


King of Anything

by superemeralds



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Origin Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-04 13:46:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10992156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superemeralds/pseuds/superemeralds
Summary: Shadow the hedgehog's past has been a mystery ever since he was first introduced in SA2 in 2001. His game in 2005 brewed up even more questions than answers. What about those Aliens? What did the GUN Commander really have to do with Shadow and Maria? What exactly did happen on the Space Colony ARK that made Shadow the person he is today, and for GUN to give order to execute all scientists? It is time to shine some light upon the dark and find out the truth once and for all.(TRIGGER WARNING for physical aswell as verbal child abuse, transphobia, slight gore, militarism)





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first big fanfic be merciful,,,
> 
> No trigger warning apply for this chapter.
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

1938

“Not again…” the old professor mumbled as he slowly approached the ‘discard’ button. How many countless projects have ended as biological waste now? The list seemed endless. Sometimes he wondered how he even came to do it, but then he remembered…

 

1910

He was young and inexperienced when called by a group of archaeologists because of his interest in chaos mythology. They’ve had discovered a ruin, an old temple, with mural paintings. One very prominent one displayed an enormous blue creature made of fluid; tentacles sprouting out of the water, opposing a small golden hedgehog floating above the ocean. The ancient scripts are talking about the perfect existence: a lifeform of pure chaos. The prophecy said that once every ten thousand years a golden creature will fight the creature called Perfect Chaos. This fight was crucial to saving all living beings on the planet from the eternal flood and destruction it would bring. This is where his research in artificial life began.

 

1929

Gerald felt determined to be the one to fulfill the prophecy. He wanted to create the perfect chaos and control it. Using the Master Emerald he started creating fluid lifeforms with artificial intelligence. They were simply untamable. Driven by chaos in pure anger, the creatures violently destroyed anything that came their path. Gerald had succeeded: He created pure chaos. Ultimately this project was shut down under the file name "artificial chaos" - a truly fitting name.

 

1935

As time passed and he slowly grew old, he was about to give up. His grand daughter Maria was on the Space Colony ARK with him, due to her rare condition: she suffered from NIDS. It’s a sickness that weakens the neuro system and immune system of a person. Gerald has long failed to find a cure for the disease, as many other scientists have too.

But one day, as the black comet crossed paths with earth once again, Black Doom, the black arms alien overlord, noticed Gerald’s troubles. The telepathic life form sensed the power of chaos within the Space Colony ARK. Examining the professors plan to create the ultimate lifeform sounded promising. It was the perfect plan: The old professor created an indestructible lifeform, and in return he’d expect to get the seven chaos emeralds! Since the alien race was already capable of using the power of chaos it was an easy task to aid the professor with the creation of a creature that was to share their abilities.

When Black Doom offered his help, Gerald did not hesitate. He didn't care how shady it was to trust an alien lifeform, as long as it meant to succeed in his goal of creating the perfect creature. Professor and alien overlord agreed, both thinking they did the right decision. The professor then created a new plan: combining the power of chaos, through the help of the aliens DNA-samples, with another living being.

Under the assumption that the immense power of chaos would amplify the natural abilities of a creature he hoped to create something that would aid in the making of a cure for his beloved grand daughter. In hope to make use of lizards regenerative abilities he tried to infuse alien cells into the specimen. At first tests showed impressive results: The creature quickly reacted to direct exposure of chaos energy. Unfortunately the animal also grew faster than expected and engaged with the same mindless violent behavior. This was not the ultimate lifeform he hoped to create, it was an animal. It was blind and hurt itself, it was too weak to support its own immense weight. This prototype was ultimately sealed away in the deep chambers of the Space Colony ARK, along with the artificial chaos.

Gerald did not want to make the same mistake again and decided that the golden hedgehog should be his new inspiration for the ultimate lifeform. The golden ray of hope.

 

1938

“Not again…” the old professor mumbled as he slowly approached the ‘discard’ button. The fluid containing the lifeless embryo was disposed to biological waste.

Giving up was not an option, but what should he do? He just couldn't figure out how to successfully combine the aliens DNA with another living creature. At this point he became so desperate he was willing to try out anything. Injections always lead to failure, no matter how early in development it happened. The only solution would be, to have the DNA already implemented in the creator; to create a true hybrid according to Mendel's law of combination. This was his last resort.

When Gerald was done, all he could do was wait. Maria came in to see once in a while, and one day she came up to the professor and said “Grandfather! It’s become a baby!” and she excitedly pulled him by his lab coat towards the tube in which the small hedgehog was growing. Impressively enough, Maria was right. The small hedgehog embryo was still alive and twitched then and there. You could see its weak little heart beat. It was heartwarming, not many of Gerald's experiments had lived that long. This would be the one to survive even longer. This would be the ultimate lifeform for sure. Gerald was nervous when he was about to start his first chaos radiation session with his small creation, but it had to be done. His hopes were high and Maria was excited too. “Let’s do it.”

Starting up the process the small child was twitching a lot, the fluid started boiling. And before you knew it, it was over. The child did not move, Gerald was about to yell in frustration. ‘Not again!’ Was all he could think, but this very moment Maria knocked on the glass of the tube.

“Hello, my name is Maria. Are you okay?”

“Maria, get away!” Gerald gently picked her up and placed her back at his desk.

“But Grandfather, I just wanted to be their friend.” Maria protested.

“Maria… it’s-“ this very moment it started moving again and its small heart continued beating. "It's alive."

The old man adjusted his glasses at the sight of the beating heart on the monitor. Immediately Gerald went to check the chaos energy rates in its body and how vitalities had changed. He was as excited as he hadn't been in years! Maria was glad to see her grandfather being happy and watched him do his researches while he explained every little detail to her. Even though she just recently turned ten, Maria Robotnik was a very intelligent girl. It sort of ran in the family one could say, because the Robotniks are well read scientists to this day. One of the ones that was yet to be born would have an important role later in the experiment's life.

The next days, Maria was the first to spot it, the hedgehog was growing unnaturally fast. Gerald was scared this was the same phenomenon as the one he observed with the Biolizard, but there was nothing unnatural about its vitals. The hedgehog only seemed to be aging rapidly. Within a week the embryo was as grown out as a three month old. At this rate, the baby would be born in one more week.

Excitedly Maria read bed time stories to the hedgehog or wrapped a blanket around the tube when she felt it was unnaturally cold in the lab. She always began with saying "Hey little one, it's me: Maria!" Gerald told her a lot of times that it couldn't hear her yet, mostly because of that glass, but she insisted to bond with it, "like the people on TV do when they get a baby."

"So we're getting a baby it seems." he told himself mockingly. But deep down he remembered the day his only son was born. Moreover, the day Maria was brought to this world. Birth was a wonder and he wanted to make sure the hedgehog's birth would bring good to the world. It shall save earth from any harm in the future. Be it the true Perfect Chaos or the evil aliens that made its life possible. But mostly, it shall protect his beloved Maria. She was just as fragile as a butterflies wings and he couldn't live with himself knowing he was unable to protect her from any harm. He had to cure her.

_The ultimate lifeform. Meant to perform miracles, shining with a bright golden aura of pure chaos. A saviour who emits the warmth of love. Stronger than ants and faster than cheetahs. Indestructible and immortal. Endless reserves of energy, chaos energy, for its own use._

All this was expected from the tiny baby hedgehog, peacefully floating in its nutrition tube in a laboratory in space, orbiting around earth.

 

A little over a week had passed and Gerald refused to leave his lab because the hedgehog could be ready anytime. It's absorbed a good amount of chaos energy and sustained a greater level of health. Its development was remarkable and he could not wait for the day of its official birth to come. He would soon finally receive proof that he really succeeded to create a functioning and intelligent, but most of all ultimate, lifeform.

Maria had been "camping" at Gerald's laboratory for a while now because she was just as excited about it. She saw something like a new little sibling in it. The poor girl's spent 3 years in space without any other kids now and she was eager to have someone to play with after so long.

"Grandfather!" the girl pulled him at the lab coat again. "It's moving!" And the hedgehog indeed started moving.

"Maria, child. Get us a blanket, please!" Gerald said stroking her head shortly before walking up to the nutrition tube the hedgehog was in. It had grown to be 30 centimeters of size and was already completely covered in white fur. Unusual were its bright red markings all over its body, which were oddly familiar to the old man.

"It's time." The professor checked the hedgehog's health one more time before slowly pumping out the fluid. Just as Maria came back with a blanket he opened the tube. A small cry was to be heard from the hedgehog as Gerald wrapped it in the blanket.

"I want to hold it! Give it to me, please!" Maria excitedly tapped from one foot to the other. "What is it? What are we going to call it?"

"Calm down, my girl. Hold it still, will you?" Gerald said, giving the new-born baby to his grand daughter. He wasn't sure how the alien DNA might have influenced in the hedgehog, so he had to take blood samples as soon as possible. "I don't know yet, but we'll find out soon." he paused. "What name do you have in mind yet?"

"I was thinking of Chocolate in case it turns brown!" she smiled at it. "Do you like the name Chocolate?" The hedgehog gave out a whimper.

The old man brought out a heartfelt laugh. "I think it doesn't approve of your idea. I have only named this project Chaos Energetic Ultimate Lifeform but I'm sure you'll find a fitting name for it in the next days..." The professor wanted to reach out to get his project back but Maria started rocking it in her arms, singing a good night song to it. She looked so content and the baby snuggled up to actually fall asleep. He couldn't help but smile at this sight and waited until Maria was done.

_This was the beginning of something huge._


	2. What's your Name?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naming your science Project is harder than it seems, mostly when you know as much as nothing about it!
> 
>  
> 
> ** I'm not good with summaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Changed the title of the fanfic because reasons. *
> 
> No trigger warnings apply for this chapter.
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

"Good night, sweetheart." the old man kissed his granddaughters forehead and pulled the covers over her. She had fallen asleep holding his project in her arms. Now it was Gerald's time to get it back. "Shh." The old man gently reached under the covers.

The small hedgehog whimpered a little when being removed from its human friends embrace but quickly calmed down when Gerald started rocking it as he left Maria's room. It grabbed his coat and snuggled against his soft stomach.

Back in the lab the professor gently placed the hedgehog on his desk (It didn't want to let go of him first, though). He got the smallest syringe he could find. "This will sting a little." he said as he pushed the needle into the hedgehogs arm.

As if it could understand him.

It let out a small cry and opened its eyes, which were as blue as the planet beneath them. They were curious eyes that saw the world for the first time. The experimental creature looked right into Gerald's face and stared at him. It didn't even bother the syringe anymore. And before anyone could've known it, the hedgehog grabbed Gerald's mustache giggling. This caused the professor to slip and push the needle further into the poor baby, but he quickly removed it and prepared for the worst.

He expected screams or punches, but the hedgehog kept grabbing his mustache smiling after a small flinch.

"Unbelievable." he managed to mumble under his breath as he grabbed the babies arm to remove it from his mustache - but it didn't let go. And the more forceful Gerald tried to remove the tiny hedgehog’s hand, the stronger its grip got and the less it was smiling. This child was incredibly strong, just as predicted, and at such an incredibly young age. The professor just only now realized what consequences an ultimate baby would bring.  
And just when he thought it couldn't get worse a very dominant smell reached his nose and he was proven wrong.

After endless calls with the supply group on earth and countless requests of smuggling baby supplies into his lab, Gerald finally got to work with the blood sample he took from the child that finally was asleep. Now it was time to examine its blood cells.

It was an exhausting work. Looking through the microscope, searching for particular cells, waiting a long time and eventually falling asleep.

 

Early in the morning the sharp sound of the crying baby woke the professor as if lightning has just struck him. The child's voice was stronger, louder. He could be exaggerating, but he would've sworn the child had grown a centimeter overnight.

"There, there..." he took it in his arms and rocked it gently. Had it pooped on the desk again? Was is hungry? The supply capsule wouldn't come until later that day… What should he do? He still had some of the nutrition fluid from the tank, but was this a suitable meal to feed a developing baby? Why did he take care of a science project like that all of the sudden in the first place? It probably was Maria's fault...

This very moment the girl came in. "Good morning Grandfather! Is our new little friend awake already? Can I feed it breakfast?" She was as excited as she's been the day before, if not even more. She felt as if she just got a new sibling. A new friend.

"How about you go to the cafeteria and look for something for the baby to eat, hm?" Gerald smiled at her, hoping she'd understand. He couldn't just feed this child some tank fluid. Project or not, he had to raise it properly to get the results he wanted from this experiment.

As the hedgehog calmed down and dozed off again, the professor left it next to him on the desk, wrapped in blankets warm and tight, and looked at his examinations from last night. The chromosomes were still not all sorted out and he had a lot of work to do figuring out where each belonged. This hedgehog had twice as many pairs than humans and some of them had weird shapes and he wasn't sure if that was because of the alien DNA or because of a major mutation... Or simple overlapping. He had to wait until he could get a closer look at the DNA.

Maria came back with some mashed fruit in a bowl and a spoon. "I'm ready to feed the baby!" she announced proudly.

"Good job, Maria.” Gerald smiled as his granddaughter proudly approached the small hedgehog.

"Good morning! Are you hungry? I have mashed apples for you, do you like that?"

The hedgehog approached Maria slowly, sniffing at the bowl. It was about to lick the mush inside of it as Maria sat it up and held the spoon in front of it. "This is how you eat food. Here comes the plane!!" and she faked the sounds of a plane flying by as she moved the spoon closer to the hungry mouth.

This was the first time it ate and it made a total mess, not understanding it had to swallow the food at first. So the apple mush entered its mouth until there was no space left and it fell out again. Maria laughed and showed it exactly how it worked, making exaggerated gestures to strengthen the message she tried to convey.

Gerald could only worry about the mess of DNA this hedgehog had. He wasn’t sure what exactly about this creature was alien and which was so called “mobian”.  Some of the hedgehogs genes just did not make sense. There were a few chromosomes he just could not tell where they belonged. Could some of them be the equivalent of X and Y chromosomes? He had to assume so. When mixing alien with hedgehog DNA there probably has been a mix up, because who knows how alien-sex works. He had to assume it to be unknown until he could examine the external organs - if those would even reseble anything known to him - he had to check on the hedgehog's body anyway...

This very moment he remembered how he had stabbed the hedgehog's arm last night and rushed over to look at it, but all he could see was a normal needle wound. Only a small dot.

"Is there something wrong, Grandpa?" Maria asked, curious about the sudden rush of the professor. The hedgehog smiled at him and dropped some more apple mush on the desk.

"No, I just wanted to check on something... I'm almost done with my first examination and it's pretty interesting." he sat back down.

"Can I know, too? Please?"

"It has very interesting genes which I'm eager to examine more! Who knows what this small thing is capable of."

"Have you found out if it's a boy or a girl, yet? I've been coming up with names all night!" Maria smiled from ear to ear. "If it's a girl I'd name it Hazelnut and if it's a boy I'd call it Coffee! ... Since it didn't like chocolate."

"Do you expect me to add one of those names to my research papers? Ohh it'll cast a shadow over my reputation..." Gerald shook his head. "Besides, I'm not sure if it has any gender at all yet."

"You mean like snails? Also didn't you say you based it off some mythical creature? Maybe we can find something related to that?" Maria's eyes lit up.

"I'm not sure, but we can take it to consideration. " He paused. "Both: the snail part and the name."

 

A month later the hedgehog was crawling around the lab. Its fur had already turned from pure white into a light grey and it started toothing. This meant it would put whatever its hands could grab in its mouth.  
Maria found its little fangs cute but Gerald insisted she should watch over it better since some of the things in his lab should _really_ not be chewed on.

Considering the high amount of tests Gerald had performed on the creature, it was very lively and even more energetic every time. It was like the chaos radiation pumped it up with energy, which would mean that the hedgehog, firstly showed positive reaction to the strange energies of the gemstone, and secondly that it could store the energy and use it for itself, which was very interesting. It did not glow golden, nor was it illuminated in an aura of energy, yet, though. Maybe this phenotype would develop when it grew older, which it did very fast anyway. After just one month it had the body of an eight month old and grew about 4 centimeters.

Maria and Gerald had agreed to call the hedgehog Terios. This name translates into "mirror image" or "reflection". A name worthy for a creature based on the mythical form of an ancient god.

It became harder and harder to keep this small creature a secret from the other scientists aboard the ARK. One day Gerald will have made a discovery that would motivate him more than anything to share his project with his colleagues.

 

6 months have passed since Gerald had created the ultimate lifeform. Only his most trusted assistant knew about its existence. They tested the hedgehogs intelligence by teaching it multiple languages at the same time (those languages included German, English and Japanese). Terios would confuse some words at times, but it did catch up fairly quickly.

The professor had just taken a fresh blood sample after a chaos therapy session. He took out the syringe and brought it to another desk, labeled the sample by date and went back to the now almost medium grey hedgehog. "Do you want a patch with flowers again?" Gerald asked as he inspected its arm again, but the wound was gone. "I-incredible!"

"What?" the hedgehog asked.

Maria taught it to talk, walk and run on its own. It had caught up very quickly and had a brilliant mind. Maria and the hedgehog also had agreed that Terios would be a fitting name for them. She insisted in asking them for their consent once they were ready to understand.

"Now have your wounds always healed that quickly?" the professor paused a little. Then he got a scalpel. "I'm sorry but I have to do this. Give me your hand."

Gerald felt bad for what he was about to do to his creation, but it was in the name of science. So he cut into Terios' finger as gently as possible, as if that would hurt less, and wiped the drop of blood away. "Hold your arm still, just like that." He demanded.

"Why are you doing this?" Terios asked dropping its ears. It couldn't understand why their creator was doing this to them. Why was he harming it all of the sudden?

Gerald just stood there, and patiently watched Terios' finger.

It was slow and gradual, like watching cheese melt in the oven. You looked away, then back and it looked totally different. A blood crust quickly developed on the wound and disappeared just as fast as it was build up and only a small line that defined the wound and new growing skin was left. And all this happened within 10 minutes!

"Eureka!" the old professor excitedly took Terios in his arms and held them up. "You truly are an invincible lifeform!"

The regenerating powers of this hedgehog could open new doors in the science of medicine. Could the secret to curing Maria lie within this creature’s genetic code? The ultimate lifeform: The cure for all diseases!?

Gerald had to test this more; examine how far he could go with the ability to heal with Terios. But... he needed help. He needed his other colleagues on the ARK.

Immediately he let the confused hedgehog down and got ahold of the communicator.

" _Dear colleagues, I think I just have discovered the scientific breakthrough of the century_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you are confused about the fact Shadow is actually called Terios here: Worry not.  
> The concern of names will be a topic again later in the story.
> 
> Just try to remember that Terios=Shadow.


	3. It's just a story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New info on Terios and some bonding time with Maria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentioned violence/injuries, Parental abuse.
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

At least 20 people in white lab coats were surrounding the small hedgehog and it didn't like it. At all. Everyone touched it and looked at its hand and inspected it and did weird things. Some pulled at it, ripped out single quills or poked it in places. Everyone was talking at the same time and it eventually became too much for Terios and it covered its ears.

"Stop." it whimpered.

"This creature is capable of speak!? Truly amazing!"  
"How old is it? What species is it? What gender is it? Can it reproduce?"  
"Does it have special properties? How did you manage to sustain it stable? Is it stable?"  
"Where did you get the references for this? I want to see your formulas this instant."

Gerald then came to the rescue: "Please, not all at once! I Need you to listen to me, so we can run tests on it." he stroked his mustache, "This creature, has the ability of quick regeneration. Maybe we can find the secret to this ability and use it to help heavily wounded people, amputees, cancer patients and people with neuro and immune defects."  
Everyone, except Terios, in this room knew, he was talking about Maria in the first place. It was reasonable, she was very precious to him.

Terios was just confused. They were not used to so many people at the same time.

The last weeks, Maria had just taught them to speak and do basic things, so they could become more independent. Since Gerald wasn't sure of their sex, Maria decided to stay neutral. It was no big deal anyway, she just didn't want to call them an "it", because that's bad, she said. They were a person - and people are not "its". The hedgehog didn't really understand this yet, they had no real concept of gender anyway. All they knew was that Maria was a girl, and the professor was a man. Female and male. Sometimes they wondered what they were, they wanted to belong. They were a person too, after all.

But lately there had just been a lot of tests and they were not allowed to see Maria that much anymore. She also was busy with school, whatever that was.  

The scientists were more concerned about the science behind Terios. Gerald told them everything he found out yet: The hedgehog was a hybrid of something extraterrestrial and mobian hedgehog. It had extraordinary DNA, which probably made it infurtile. It's fur was turning darker over time and it was aging very fast. In the last 6 months it grew as much as a normal child would in about two years. It could walk, speak, open doors, use the toilet on its own and even think logically. It learned to count very fast and can solve easy math problems. It currently spoke three languages.  
It was very curious and quick, mostly reflexes seemed to be really fast. Moreover did it seem to have very sensitive senses, 10 times better than humans. X-rays show, it had about as much bones as all other living beings on the planet, but more organs, which couldn't be specified at the moment. They might be the key to its abilities. The brain also seemed to have a respectable size "for their species". Very dominant were the measurements of chaos energy, which have increased over the therapy. This meant the hedgehog was able to absorb and seal chaos energy in its body? This was also a subject Gerald wanted to inspect further.

But obviously the most important fact about the hedgehog were the newly discovered regenerative powers. Where did they come from? _Were they transferable to humans?_  

Since most of the scientists on ARK had knowledge about chaos, gene manipulation, botanics and weaponry - not medicine, they wanted to see the hedgehogs reaction to chaos energy and radiation themselves. They had seen what happened to the artificial chaos and the biolizard, so they wanted living proof that an actual living being was compatible with the energy. Someone suggested to film body activity with a heat camera and also have an x-ray filter at the glass, so they could inspect any activity within the hedgehog while to exposure to the chaos.

And so it was done. Terios did not have much of a choice, being an experiment. They were curious about what they were about to do. They were used to radiation tests, and did not really get the point of it, but they, themself, noticed a difference from before and after. They felt stronger and more confident every time they exited the test room. So much energy was flowing through their body, they felt like they could run across the whole ARK and still feel great.

As soon as the machine was turned on, a huge emerald, the Master Emerald, emerged from a hole in the ground. The rooms were separated through huge glass windows, so you could see into the room in the middle, but whoever was in the middle room, was not able to look back at the outer rooms. The emerald got put under pressure and energy was forced to escape, it then searched its way to escape, but the walls of the room were chaos proof. The energy could not reenter the emerald so it entered the hedgehog. The earlier tests, a lot of energy got wasted into entropy, but the more often Terios was exposed to chaos energy, the more it seemed to search its way to the hedgehog, as if they were a chaos magnet.

Terios enjoyed it, because it just meant they felt better and better every time. Almost truly powerful. In the scientists perspective, there was something stunning to see. The energy was most compressed in the hedgehogs hands, feet and torso, but seemed to be flowing through the whole body evenly. Closer looks showed that the most energy was concentrated on the hedgehogs... invisible paw pads; or "fingertips" (analogous to feet), and its live keeping organs, but mostly one special one. A small knot near its heart, in the center of the body. The scientists believed it to be the organ responsible for the interaction with chaos.

When measurements were taken, the emerald disappeared into the ground again and the security door opened to let Terios out of the room. It directly walked up to Gerald, pulling his lab coat in a requesting manner.

"Professor... can I go out and play now?"

The other scientists seemed surprised by its behavior, but Gerald pet its head. "You can go to Maria now, I think I've kept you in here long enough, have I?"

With those words Terios was gone in a flash and left the baffled scientists behind.  

 

Arriving at Maria's room they entered with a big smile on their face. They've been separated for a few days now, and they could not wait to see their human friend again.

"Maria? I'm here!" they exclaimed excitedly. The blonde girl has been reading a book this very moment and looked up.

"Hello, Terios! Did grandfather finally let you out? How are you?" She smiled at them and laid the book down.

Terios then climbed up the bed to sit beside her; they were merely 46cm of size.  
"I'm okay. There were a lot of weird people. But I feel good!" they inspected the book in Maria's hands. "What is this? Why are you in there?"

Maria couldn't help but let out a giggle. "This is a book. There's pictures in there and that girl happens to look a lot like me."

"What do books do?"

"They tell stories!" Maria loved novels. She was merely 10 years old, but she had already read so many books, she eventually stopped counting. She mostly loved reading about science. Her favourite genre was sci-fi, though, because she could laugh about the cute ideas those writers have, which defy the laws of physics by far.

"But it did not say anything!" Terios protested.

Maria smiled. "No,no! You read them. There's words written in them and you can read those and then you get to know a story!"

"What was this book telling then?" they looked at the book with lit up eyes. A thing that tells stories without even saying them. It was absolutely fascinating.

"It is the story of Cinderella.

_When her mother died her father took a new wife who brought two stepsisters. She was bullied very badly by them, thrown in the dirt, made to become their slave. But she remembered her mother telling her to be a good person and good would come to her, so she obeyed and was good and prayed at her mothers grave. When her father asked what she wanted, she said she just wanted a twig that would touch his hat on his journey. And she recieved that twig and she planted it on the grave of her dead mother and cried. With this a hazelnut tree sprouted from the grave and grew tall._

_Soon after, the Prince of the land announced a festival in which he'd chose his bride. Cinderella was not allowed to go, no matter how much she begged. Her evil stepmother told her lies and poured out a bowl of peas in the ashes. Cinderella was meant to pick them all out clean back in the bowl if she wanted to go. The girl called the birds from her mothers grave for help and they rushed and helped, but she was not allowed to go. Her evil stepmother poured more peas into the ashes and shouted at her to give it up for she didn't have a dress, and she couldn't dance._

_When everyone left Cinderella went to her mothers gave and wept and asked for a beautiful dress and the birds would bring her a dress most magnificent and slippers made of pure gold. She then went to the festival and danced with the Prince and he wouldn't want anyone else. In the night she had to leave before her evil family returned, but she came back the next night looking even more beautiful than before. The Prince didn't want to lose his bride so he laid out a trap for when she left again. Cinderella was gone, but her shoe was stuck on the stairs._

_The Prince called forth all girls to try on the shoe and of course Cinderellas stepsisters wanted their part, but their feet were too big. The evil stepmother gave them a knife for them to cut off their toes and heels, but the birds alarmed the Prince and told him that they were not his real bride. The Prince insisted to see Cinderella and have her try the shoe, and of course it fit and he recognized her face and married her._

_On their weddig the evil stepsisters wanted to have part of their sisters fortune but the birds came forth to pick out their eyes and their vain foolishness had been punished with blindness for the rest of their lives._ "

"That was a horrible story." Terios didn't look happy at all. Why would someone tell a story like this? Humans couldn't possibly be that horrible. "Even her own father was against her! Why would anyone want to remember this?"

Maria shook her head. "It was probably in the intent to teach the reader a lesson: to always be good, no matter what happens, and the bad people will be punished for their crimes, and the good people will be awarded."

"It was... brutal, though." Terios dropped their ears. Thinking back to it made them feel very uncomfortable.

"Oh, Terios...." she pat her friends head gently.

"It was only a story, ok? Don't think too much about it." A bright smile grew across her face, hoping to cheer her friend up again.

"Only a story." Terios mumbled, still deep in thought, unable to forget those images.  

 

After a few moments of silence, Maria had an idea. "Hey Terios, don't you want a beautiful dress for yourself?"

"Me? A dress?" they asked.

"Yes!" Maria excitedly searched her wardrobe for old dresses that could fit them, but they were all too big. She held up the smallest she could find. Maybe if it was cut here and there... They couldn't know if they did not try; so she got some scissors. A cut here, a cut there. Holding it against Terios - seemed about right.

The hedgehog tried to get in the dress, which was challenging with all those quills on their head, but they eventually made it; more or less. The dress was ripped a bit in the back, due to the pulling and the fact they were still kind of tense. Desipite this, the hedgehogs quills were quite soft and bendable.

"You look SO cute! Look at yourself; wait!" Maria exclaimed and searched for a Mirror to hold it in front of her furry friend.

"What do you think?" She held up the mirror for them to see what they looked like. The blue dress was cut badly and all over the place and the shoulders were war too wide to fit the little hedgehog, but they liked the idea of cloth on their body, it felt soft and light, but also warming.

"I like it!" they admitted.

"We should ask grandfather if he can get you one in your actual size! Right away!" Maria's eyes lit up. She loved dress shopping, and now she could do it with her new friend. She wasn't alone anymore! Immediately the two kids stormed out of Maria's room and headed towards the lab of the old professor.

They entered the lab. "Grandfather!"

"Maria? How many times have I told you not to come in here without asking for permission first!?" the professor tried to sound strict, but you could see how his eyes lit up below his glasses. He was glad to see his granddaughter, any minute she distracted him from his work was precious, and he wanted to safe her at all costs. His daughter, Anna, had already died due to NIDS. Gerald still felt guilty to this day for not being able to safe her; Maria should not end like this.

Terios just looked up at him with a smile on his face that could even make the old professor melt.

"Can you please help Terios find a dress that fits them?" Maria grinned ear to ear. She was so excited about all this.

"Them? A dress?"The old man looked at the creature to his feet and they really looked content about their loose piece of fabric. The other scientists would certainly not approve of the experiment gaining individualism and wear human clothing but...

"Can I, please?" Terios begged, pulling the professors lab coat once more. Gerald just couldn't say no. It didn't feel right. Terios has made their own decision, they were sentient. If he declined now, they would be sad. He had no other choice.

_"Alright, children. Let's get Terios their very own dress."_


	4. Gravity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to learn new things! 
> 
> These summaries are very helpful!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No trigger warnings apply for this chapter.
> 
> Might warn you that Terios is getting experimented on in questionable ways (which will worsen in the next chapters). Remember they are treated like an "animal" and not as a sentient being... in case that makes you uncomfortable.
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

Maria and Terios have been going through at least 20 fashion magazines yet, but they couldn’t find anything they _really_ liked. Maria only owned human magazines, which was not very helpful for her little friend. They were about to give up, but then Maria had an idea once more: They could make the dress themselves; sewing shouldn’t be too hard to learn.

Terios didn’t know how to feel about it, but they thanked her for her efforts. It was not like they expected to get one right away. (It was, though.) They didn’t want to upset their friend and hid their disappointment.

This wasn’t necessary for long, though. After another chaos therapy session, the two of them walked along the corridor that leads from the labs towards the dorms. Then, all of the sudden, the lights turned off.

“Maria!? What happened? Where are you?” Terios called out.

This very moment the lights turned back on and Maria happened to be floating in the middle of the room, spinning slightly.

“Terios, it’s okay. It’s just the power generator restarting again. It happens sometimes, but it’s not dangerous. It will take a while to restore gravity so enjoy it while it lasts!” She smiled at them, hoping to comfort her concerned friend.

“What is… gravity?” Terios asked, spinning a little more violent as they lost control.

“Gravity is what sticks you to the ground, and lets you not fly off into space. Well not here, since we’re in space already.” She couldn’t help but giggle.

“What is space?” Terios asked confused, slowly regaining control of themselves.

“Space is everything you see when you look out the window. But the big blue sphere, that’s earth.” She smiled. But it wasn’t like all her other smiles. It seemed… sad.

“Earth?”

“It’s a beautiful place full of life and the air is fresh and there are so many nice people and beautiful flowers and cute animals and everything is alive.” She paused as she looked out the window longingly. “I was there when I was a child, but when Grandfather moved up here for his research and found out I was sick he took me with him, so I had a better chance surviving. I’m thankful he cares so much for me, but I hope one day I can finally go back.” She turned towards Terios with a smile, but it was obvious she held back tears. She knew she was lying to herself, but was it such a crime to have hope? “With you.”

“Earth.” Terios repeated and walked towards the window to take a closer look at it. It sure looked beautiful. So big and blue and shiny. And now that they were at the window, they spotted all the other beautiful things out there. The moon, the sun, many more stars and galaxies that could be seen. Maria sure knew a lot about… everything.

They looked back at Maria, who was still floating. Floating? But they had reached the ground already, how was that possible? They gave her a worried look.

She returned that puzzled look, didn’t know what to say. “T-Terios? How?”

“I… I thought about how I walked over here and I did.” They didn’t know what happened or how they did that. But they felt their how feet being connected to the ground. Their feet had felt unusually warm on the cold floor. Then, Maria suddenly fell down. “Maria!”

“I’m fine, Terios. Just how did you do that?” she got up to inspect them. Nothing seemed unusual about them.

Terios, though, now felt unusual. They felt drained off energy. Did they do that on purpose? How? It did have to do with the energy the scientists “fed” them with?

“I think we should go back and tell grandfather about this.” Maria took Terios’s hand and started walking towards the labs.

“O-ok.”

Terios was not too fond of the labs anymore since the “tests” on them, when Gerald was not there, became weirder and weirder. The weird humans were fascinated by their healing abilities and cut them open on their arms a lot of times to test how fast wounds closed, depending on how much wounds there is overall. They also liked to make them sick and wait until their body fought the sickness off. They said, they were going to cure Maria’s sickness one day, and they might even cure everyone on earth. This was what gave Terios the strength to go on and let them do these tests on them.

Now that they thought about it, they never really did anything about the energy things. Whenever they were finished, Terios was only inspected for their energy level and health, which both increased every time. But in all honesty, Terios wanted to know more about themselves, too. They wanted to know everything there was to know. About humans and now also earth and space. Just about how all the things in the universe worked.

In the past months they’ve been around, they often got a glimpse of what scientists did - it was weird and they did not understand. One time they saw a weird man in a black suit wandering around; whoever knew what _he_ wanted there. Maria told them that the men in black suits are bad and that they should always stick to the scientists. But she never said why.

Arriving at the lab Gerald was sitting at his desk looking through notes he took. “Maria, is that you?” He stood up and walked towards the door, adjusting his glasses.

“Grandfather! You will never guess what just had happened!” Maria spurted excitedly.

“Do you mean the generator’s hiccups?” he laughed. “We really need to find more efficient ways to run this thing.”

“No! Yes! I mean... kind of?” She pulled Terios a little closer to the doctor. “Terios was able to walk on the ground even though we were at zero gravity!”

“Oh boy, that’s news! Is it true, Terios?” the old professor kneeled down to face his project.

“Yes! It felt funny in my legs.” Terios admitted. It was a ticklish feeling in their legs, but even more at the soles of their feet.

“Hmm… I think we should run a few tests on you to make sure we don’t miss anything and you tell me exactly what happened, ok Terios?” Gerald got up and walked towards his measuring equipment. He had a suspicion that chaos energy is highly involved in this, so he wanted to measure the amount of chaos energy inside them again.

Terios nod and silently followed the professor. They were very used to being tested by now.

Maria excitedly followed them to watch her grandfather at work.

As Gerald had started the machine Terios was standing in, he thoughtfully stroked his mustache. They had lost energy since this morning and the energy concentration was slightly higher in the legs than anywhere else, but it was slowly evening out.

“Terios, did you feel heavy ever since the gravity anomaly?”

“Not anymore I think.” Terios replied puzzled.

“I think I know what was going on, but I would never have thought this was possible!” the professor let his project leave the machine.

“What is it, Grandfather?” Maria’s eyes lit up, like always when the old man found out something new about her little friend. She found them just that fascinating.

“Terios must’ve unconsciously concentrated chaos energy to their feet, which created a strong force connecting them to the ground. But it seems like they have lost a lot of energy due not willingly controlling its flow.” Gerald looked at Terios. “I think we need to revise our timetable, small one. We’ll have to figure out your potential more and see that you learn to control your power.” He paused, but then let it be. He could not reveal the dangers of his experiments towards his granddaughter. He could not tell anyone, for now.

Gerald was very scared of the chaos energy controlling his new project, like it did with the Artificial Chaos and the Biolizard. Terios was different from them, but who knew what would happen if it took control over them. Their powers were yet unknown to them. Gerald only wanted to raise his potential in being a cure, but he always had to consider the dangers and find out how his project could be stopped, if they ever were to turn against him. He certainly wished they’d not, but something in the back of his mind told him to be cautious.

Terios could only think about what the professor had said about the energy. So they were manipulating it through their body to pull them to the ground? Did this work the other way around? Floating above the ground like they did when gravity was out? They felt super great thinking about this. Was the professor going to help them achieve this? They were so excited.

But this very moment the professor turned to his granddaughter. “Have you done your schoolwork already?”

“Yes, grandfather.” she grinned at him proudly.

“Good, then let’s do that today, so I have more time to concentrate on Terios the next days.” the old man walked towards his desk and took some papers and a bag.

“Where are you going?” Terios asked curious.

“Can Terios come, too?” Maria pleaded. “I’m sure they’ll have fun!”

Gerald just looked at the two of them and rose an eyebrow. Maria was already taking highschool classes, how would Terios keep up with that? But they seemed so excited to spend more time with Maria that he just couldn’t refuse. “Alright, children. Let’s get to work then.”

And so they went to a free room with tables and chairs and even a blackboard.

Maria sat down at a table in front of the blackboard and got books out of a hidden storage inside of it. She then opened one that revealed a lot of text and some structure drawings.

Terios began to read slowly. _“Evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin”. “Most organisms on earth shared the same amount of bones, mostly mammals”. “Everything alive on earth has one ancestor, no one really knows what it was though”. “Every living creature comes from parents”._

Parents.

Terios couldn’t remember how they were born. But they’ve always been with Maria and the professor. They have never questioned the absence of their parents, neither the fact they aged much faster than everyone else on ARK, but they did not think it was anything special at that time. They already knew they were something special, something extraordinary. They were reminded of it every single day, at every given time.

The scientist always called them a “project”, “CEUL” or even just “creature”, but they couldn’t figure out why. Maybe because they took the main-part in the project of curing Maria?

Maria. They wanted to cure her as fast as just possible and then go to earth with her. She made it sound like a wonderful place, and the big blue sphere in space looked mysterious, yet beautiful. Terios turned a few pages in the book until they found pictures of landscapes.

“Maria, is this earth?” they poked their friend to the side to get her attention.

Maria was listening to her grandfather talk about different theories on how animals could’ve evolved to become humanoid. “Yes, Terios! Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Ahem.”  the old man adjusted his glasses.

“Yes, grandfather… Terios, you can look at all pictures in this book, they are all from earth. Do you want some paper and pencils so you don’t get bored until the lessons are done?”

Terios was upset Maria couldn’t talk to them. The professor did not seem to like being interrupted, so they just nod and agreed. “Okay.”

As they looked at the pictures (most were black and white, but some were in color; these excited Terios the most) they imagined how it’d be like if they both were at these places. Since they could not talk to Maria, they decided to draw what they saw inside their head.

After a while Maria noticed how concentrated her friend worked on the picture and was very surprised to see them use their left hand. They just became more and more special everyday! “Terios, what are you drawing?”

The professor was ignored once more, because of the hedgehog drawing Maria’s attention all the time.

“I’m glad you’re asking, I just finished this.” They proudly revealed a very colorful picture of them and Maria in a flower field with many trees and a few clouds in the sky. “I made this for you.” They grinned ear to ear. Terios felt more hopeful than ever.

_“To remind you that we’ll go to earth together, one day!”_


	5. A sense of Belonging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heckie spaghetti Terios feels like they are fitting in !
> 
> What do you mean my summaries are not helpful at all? Why am I even still writing those?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to have more scheduled updates because i tend to write in bursts and i feel like uploading 5 chapters in one week and then having a year long break is not fair hahaha.....
> 
> Look out towards end of the month in the future! I hope it's acceptable to wait that long despite my chapters being fairly short,,,
> 
> No trigger warning apply for this chapter.
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

More weeks have passed and the small hedgehog had noticeably changed now. Their fur grew darker than before, their blue eyes slowly turned purple and their very childish voice became more unique. They have also grown whole ten centimeters (they were 65cm then). What surprised most was that they already had the physical body of a 5 year old.

Terios had accompanied Maria in her school lessons with the professor all the while now, and they had… mixed feelings towards it. Literature and science were interesting, but math bored them to death. They could not handle numbers very well. History was interesting though. They could not tell why, but humans were fascinating, whether they were good or bad. The stories about war were awful. The fact that there was probably one down there right was just outright terrifying, but the professor assured that they were safe up here on the ARK.

Humans just are stubborn, egoistic and greedy he said. Sometimes, during their regular check-ups, Terios asked the professor all kinds of things about earth. The professor made it sound so negative that it confused them that Maria would want to go to such a place. Then, one day, Terios asked the professor why he was doing all this on ARK, why science, and them, were so important for him.

The doctor just looked at them for a moment in silence. Did they say something wrong?

But then he said: _“My whole life’s work, everything I and my team have created and found out aboard the ARK, all of it is dedicated to the people down on earth. We want to make the world a better place. We want to make these people happy through the power of science. And you are one huge step to this goal, Terios. If I just figure you out, we can heal Maria - we can heal everyone on earth!”_

“I’ll do everything I possibly can to help you, professor!” the grey hedgehog stated, determination sparkling in their eyes. They wanted to help Maria at all costs. She was very precious to them - she was their only friend and they wanted to make her happy. That would make them happy themselves. After acknowledging the huge importance of them in the process of helping their friend, Terios spent a lot of time with the professor.

One day, though, Terios had just finished their health check-ups so they could go to Maria, they went to her room and noticed someone else standing at her door already. Who was that? It was a boy, probably, silver hair, orange t-shirt, jeans and weird shoes. He seemed to be a little older than Maria. Terios did not feel good about him, so they walked up to the scene.

“Maria, I’m back.” They said, pushing the boy aside to hug their friend.

_Mine._

“Hello, Terios!” Maria smiled at her friend. She was glad to see them again. It’s been a few days since they’ve seen each other because Terios was made sick again. During this time she befriended the new kid on ARK: Charles Richard Williams. He had a sun-allergy and a rich father, who on top of it all funds the ARK project, which made it possible for him to live up here for now. Glad to have someone else in his age rang up here he was sure to bond with Maria in no time. He immediately befriended her and she seemed to enjoy his presence too, because she immediately introduced him to Terios. “This is Charley, our new friend.”

Said hedgehog took a closer look, since Maria seemed to be comfortable with his presence. The boy had two different eye colors, which was very uncommon. Maybe they were all just a bounch of special kids and they could become friends and have fun. “I’m Terios…” they introduced themselves.

The boy just stood there and stared at the small hedgehog without moving an inch. “This thing can… talk? What even is this? I-I thought you were talking about an actual…” he stuttered. Maria has been friends with this thing for almost a year now? And it’s been her only friend for all the while she was up here? It was about time someone, a real person, came up to ARK and be a real friend for her. Charles couldn’t believe she’s been up here all alone for so long. Now it was his duty to be her friend in her greatest time of need.

Maria acted as if she overheard that comment of him and explained: “They are my dearest friend and I want you two to get along.”

Charles only rose an eyebrow, looking at her then at Terios.

“At least try to, for me?” she added.

Charles could only sigh. “I’ll do my best, Maria.” he kneeled down to Terios and offered his hand. “I’m Charles Williams, but you can call me Charley. Nice to meet you.”

Terios just kept clinging to Maria’s dress. “I’m Terios, as Maria already said.” they mumbled. What did the human want from them?

Charles quickly figured the hedgehog had no manners; how could it? It was an animal after all! So he let it be and pet Terios’ head. They didn’t know how to react so they just stood still, clinging onto Maria.

Terios wasn’t good at dealing with unknown situations without instructions; they’ve never learned to. This had to change they told themselves. One day they’d go to earth with Maria, and when that day has come, they’d need to be ready to deal with any kind of problems and protect her from any harm in this unknown place.

In a few days they were able to get along and played a lot of games together. Terios even thought that the human boy wasn’t that bad of a person after all. But as much as they told themselves there was nothing to worry about, that Maria was safe, there was something that bothered Terios. They didn’t know what it was. If it was a general bad feeling or if it had to do with Charles; or Maria’s disease.

Ever since Charles was there, she got weaker. She said it was normal, when new people came aboard the ARK, because they simply couldn’t be 100% sterile coming here and they adapted with time. She was told to rest and have some time for herself, preferably to Gerald it was time to study.

Maria loved science. She wanted to become a great scientist, just like her grandfather. She wanted to help as many people as possible, that’s why she was very interested in biology and medicine. And this was also the reason she found Terios so amazing. It was like they were opposites. They couldn’t ever get sick and had incredible healing abilities. They were so kind to sacrifice themselves to find a cure for her. She was so glad to have a friend like them.

Terios in the meantime took the time to practice their powers with Gerald. It was fun to betray gravity and float, but it was not so fun to fall face down. Gerald kept looking through an infrared camera to see where the energy was concentrated most within Terios; here it evaporated into heat when they used it. And it was as he thought! The energy escaped through the paw pads in their feet and generated a force strong enough to lift them off the ground and defy the artificial gravity on the space colony.

The following days Terios had gotten used to using their powers to float above the ground, and they loved it. But afterwards they always felt drained, almost weak. It took some time, but they recovered from this as good as from any diseases and wounds.

One day though, Terios was with Maria in her room while she read them a story, Charles came in and began talking excitedly. “They’ve come to get it” he said. What was he talking about? He told them to follow him and look at it with their own eyes before the others left again. So he took Maria by the hand and pulled her towards the labs. Terios followed.

At least 8 men in black suits stood at the door. Gerald was talking to one of them, four others were carrying the Master Emerald away at this very moment. Where were they taking it? Terios hadn’t seen it in a while, but they knew it was important. “Why are they taking it?” they asked Maria.

“I don’t know, Terios. Let’s ask Grandfather.” she let go of Charles hand and walked towards Gerald, who could just shake his head in desperation. “What happened?” she asked. “Why are they carrying the Crystal away??” Terios added.

The man in the black suit took a glance at Charles, then nod at Gerald, held his hand to the head and left. Charles looked at him until he was out of sight and then joined the other kids.

“They said I had no permission to use the Master Emerald…” Gerald looked down. “I couldn’t have known it belonged to someone. Me and my team found it in abandoned ruins.” Terios was confused. Was the Emerald from earth? “The echidnas wanted the emerald back, because it’s part of their culture and the planets ecosystem. I didn’t know I’d harm the planet. They would never trust me again, how am I supposed to fund my further research. One more mistake from me and they’ll send me back on earth.”

Maria had never seen her grandfather in such desperation. She embraced him kindly. “It’s going to be okay, grandfather. You always do good.”

Terios joined in. “We need to find a cure, remember? To make Maria healthy again.”

Healing Maria. This was his motivation all along. He embraced his children and lifted them up. “What would I do without you, children?”

Charles tried to be supportive, too. If Maria could be healed, he had to help. He could then also get healed from his sun allergy and live a normal life on earth with Maria. “My dad funds the projects on ARK, I can always tell him a good word or two about your work?” he said quietly. He wasn’t sure if it was actually going to help, neither did it feel right, but if it was for his only friend; he had to do it.

“Thank you very much, Charles. I appreciate the support.” the old man faintly smiled at him.

He knew that Charles was not his father: Commander Jonathan Williams. A middle aged man, who is driven by hate. He was the commander of the GUN space unit. They have their own team of researchers on their side of ARK, who were trying to create super humans for the ongoing war down on earth. The idea to push the human body beyond its natural limits was already absurd, but doing it for the purpose of war and violence… It was even worse. Gerald didn’t approve of his research being funded with this money, but he had no choice. If he hadn’t accepted to join this facility…

But then Terios got sick. They got weaker and weaker every day and Gerald could not find out why. Maria was not allowed to be with them, but she took care of them anyway. Since she never got sick from staying with them, the problem was within the hedgehog itself. Maria tried feeding them more, which helped. A lot of sleep also made them feel better.  
It almost seemed like they were healthy again after getting into Maria’s sleeping and lunch schedule, but as soon as they agreed to start chaos energy training again, Gerald noticed it: He hadn’t measured their levels in a long time, and now that he did, they were basically zero!  
Therefore, Terios needed chaos energy to survive. On the other hand, the training had probably drained them a lot, even though there was not this much energy necessary to perform this technique. The energy must have escaped in the form of heat, which did no good to the hedgehog. There had to be a way to control the flow of energy on the toe tips better… And on top of that, they also needed a new source of chaos energy!

The old professor requested G.U.N. to refund the missing source of chaos energy and luckily they agreed and sent a Chaos Emerald to him. It was smaller than the Master Emerald, and it didn’t contain as much energy, but it still was overflowing the hedgehog with power. Terios immediately felt better after exposure to the green gem. It was like they were magically drawn to it. So Gerald decided to let Terios keep it, who knew when they needed the energy again?

Time flew past fast on ARK and it was June again. Terios has been here almost an entire year, it was their birthday soon. They now had the body of a 6 year old and their mind was even further developed, which probably was because of Gerald’s and Maria’s advanced knowledge that Terios had to endure during the lessons.

But also Maria’s birthday was coming close: she was born on the 4th of June 1928 in a small village near Spagonia. Her mother was weak and died soon after giving birth and her father was overwhelmed by the responsibilities on him after realizing Maria was incurable sick. Gerald wouldn’t accept this fate for his only granddaughter (he later also got a grandson, too, though) and took her with him.

Everyone in the science team was in a great mood and Terios was curious what the reason for that may be.

“It’s Maria’s birthday in two days!” the assistant told him when she took a blood sample of them. “You’re friends with her, right? Have you considered making a present for her? I’m sure she’d be happy about it.” The woman sent a smile their way as she brought the small tube of blood to the storage.

“Birth day?” Terios asked confused. They were embarrassed they’ve never heard about this “birth day” before. The scientists had never mentioned it to them.

“Oh, you don’t know what a birthday is?” she adjusted her bun and began to explain: “A birthday is the day a person was born and we celebrate a person’s existence by celebrating the day they’ve come into this world and giving them presents! Yours comes up soon, too, I’ve heard. You should ask Professor Robotnik about it.”

This very moment the professor came in with a huge box. It was one of the supply boxes again, but Terios could see blue cloth sticking out on the top. Did he already have a present for Maria? Terios wanted to give something to Maria, too. They were excited about this birthday! They could not imagine what that would be like. Gerald’s assistant then said goodbye and left the two alone in the lab.

“Professor.” Terios said in an asking manner and jumped off the table to walk towards him. “Is it true that it’s Maria’s birthday soon?”

“Yes, Terios. Has Doctor Nia told you?” the old man smiled at his creation. The hedgehog smiled back, grinning ear to ear, revealing their small fangs. They’ve grown a lot in a year. It was remarkable what powers they had, how incredibly fast they learned and how complex and interesting their body was.

He had analyzed the stem cells he fused with hedgehog genes to create Terios in the first place and found out that the alien race this cells were from were all multi gendered. He believed that they would grow to have two functional reproduction organs which would develop more or less depending on the role in their society they take, or simply depending on their reproductive partner - like snails - just like Maria predicted to begin with!

Terios was super excited and left the lab to search for Charles. Since he was a human he should have experience with birthdays! But where was he? First Terios looked in the dorms, maybe he was with Maria. Luckily they met on the way there. Charles actually seeked Terios’ help to choose a present for her as well, because they’d have known her for much longer.

“I wanted to draw a picture for her!” Terios stated proudly. “And you?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know her as well as you do.” he said, one had on the chin, another on the back. He walked back and forth like this. “A picture is no birthday present.”

“It is not?” they dropped their ears. “I can’t do anything else…” they mumbled quietly.

“We can get one together. I can get her anything; you just have to tell me what she likes.” Charles insisted. “I don’t want to mess this up!”

“She likes earth, especially colorful flowers. We look at pictures of them in books often and she always tells me about the place they live in.” Terios remembered the time Maria received her first fully colored book about flowers. Blue, purple, red, yellow and green. All the colors in a picture. It really was beautiful and Terios could totally understand why she loved them so much; why she wanted to go to earth.

“Flowers… That’s actually a great idea! Thanks bro!” (i know that’s not 40’s slang but FIGHT ME)

“Bro?”

“We’re like brothers, right?” Charles grinned. “I’ll go and get Maria some ** _real_** flowers, alright? See you at the party!”

“ _Brothers_.” Terios repeated to themselves. This was the first time they were called by a gendered term, and it confused them. What confused them even more was that they were not related to him. But the fact Charles considered such a strong bond between them two was… comforting. Now that they thought about it, Maria was like a big sister to them. No! She actually was their big sister. And the professor had a father role for them; hadn’t he actually called them his “child” already? Did this mean they all felt the same way for them? Were they Maria’s brother? Gerald’s son? Overwhelmed by their feelings they snapped back into reality.

“See you!” They called, but Charles was already gone.


	6. Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Birthday time! Presents! How does one write summaries!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Physical abuse
> 
> ( I'm being very careful with my warnings and just want to be sure... just in case. If you think the warnings take away from the story and people have been warned with the first summary warning I can stop doing these. I'm just really unsure... )
> 
> I'm conflicted between pushing out more chapters faster and running out of backups or being patient and maybe. Maybe even.... Productive.
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

“Happy birthday!” Everyone cheered. Maria sat in front of a big round cake with 11 candles and tried to blow them all out at the same time. Terios was super excited. They sat next to her and smiled from ear to ear; they did so for the last two days.  
  
This was the first birthday party they had ever attended. Maria wore a pretty new dress with stripes and dots. It was a gift from Gerald.  
Gifts.  
  
Charles sat at the other side of the table and smirked brightly. He wanted to give Maria his present in private, being sure Terios wouldn’t mind him taking all the credit.  
Terios was worried he forgot it, but they didn’t want to say something about it right now, in fear to spoil anything. They still had the painting they made, and they were sure Maria would love it just as much as whatever that human had to offer.  
  
“Maria, I drew you a picture!”  
They revealed a picture of themselves and her together, which they’ve been sloppily hiding under the table the whole time. Flowers were everywhere and Terios on the picture gave Maria a very big and colorful one.  
  
“Oh thank you Terios!” she hugged them. “This is so sweet of you! I love it!”  
  
Maria had set up a special wall in her room, on the opposite side of her bed and behind her desk, to hang their gifts so she would always see Terios’ drawings when she couldn’t sleep or was stressed with homework. She appreciated Terios’ interpretations of earth a lot and couldn’t wait to finally be healed and show them all the beautiful things she remembered from her early childhood personally.  
  
Terios, too, only dreamed about visiting Maria’s home and seeing her smile while the sun gleamed through the leaves on her beautiful healthy smile. She meant everything to them, and they just wanted to make her happy. The professor kept telling them that the possibility to save her life and heal her forever was very high, higher than ever even, and they should both work hard on making it true. Terios noticed how the professor’s ways of talking, his gestures, his voice and his expressions changed when he started talking about Maria. Sometimes he seemed hopeless, but as soon as he looked at Terios smiling at him, he found new hope. Hope for Maria, and everyone else on earth suffering from deadly diseases.  
  
  
Charles had other interests, he didn’t even know about the professor’s plans, Terios’ purpose, their powers, and what connections to Maria they had. He didn’t really care either, they were not human after all. He’s seen plenty of those “mobians” down on earth. Useless rodents. Just a waste of space. They were no help in the war down there.  
  
Charles was the only one of the kids that really knew what war was, he was there. He lost his mother to German soldiers (or at least the German equivalent in this world?). Right now he was very grateful for his privilege to be safe from the war, and safe from the burning sun in the sky. Ever since the incident he told himself that he had the duty to become stronger and help out as soon as just possible. He tried to act tough, but deep inside he was still just a kid.  
  
Scared.  
  
Charles trained to be a great soldier ever since, he was 13 at the time Maria turned 11, and had sworn to protect women and children from harm and end this war; to protect peace. He considered volunteering for the super soldier project his father is leading here on ARK, but until now, every try was a failure and the soldiers had just ended up dying or worse.  
Charles of course didn’t know that, he just knew the project was flawed and needed more time, but once he would turn 18 he wanted to be there for his country. His dad had told him countless stories about heroes early on and Charles felt that this was his destiny. No one could blame this child, he was fed militarist propaganda ever since he drew his first breath on earth.  


  
  
It was on the 4th of June 1940 that the kids could happily eat Maria’s 11th birthday cake, no worries about the trembling world below them. The kids had fun playing games all day, but in the evening Terios had to go and join the scientists. They had new tests scheduled for this day, no matter how much they protested against it. Accepting their fate, Terios wished Maria a good night in advance and rushed to the laboratories.  
  
Charles used this chance to spend some time with Maria by himself. He would lie if he was to say he was not interested in her, she was pretty and her freckles looked just like the stars outside the window. He was a young and naïve preteen after all.  
  
After the party he stayed to help Maria clean up and accompanied her to her room afterwards. The smart boy he was he had ordered an employee to drop his present for Maria in her room.  
  
“This is for me?” Maria asked surprised as she inspected the neatly wrapped box the size of a cat.  
  
“Sure is - open up! I’m positive you’ll love it.” he laughed. Of course she would; Terios said so. He or she, or rather it, knew Maria very well, considering they’ve been together for a year now. Charles really didn’t know what to think of Terios, it was an animal. An animal that could talk and maybe walk on two legs while also having hands with opposable thumbs, but that’s all that made it “special”. Whatever the scientists wanted from it, it couldn’t be too special, could it? They made a big fuss about that thing in the laboratories, but he just couldn’t wrap his mind around why that creature would be more extraordinary than a human being.  
  
“OH. MY. GOD.” Maria exclaimed as she opened the box and saw the potted flower inside. “How on earth did you manage to have it transported here? How did you get this through the security? I… wow.” She held back her tears. It has been years since she’s seen a real living flower and was overwhelmed with feelings of joy. Not knowing how to thank him she just wrapped her arms around Charles. “Thank you Charley, thank you so much! How am I supposed to thank you? This is incredible, I’m so thankful!”  
  
“No need to thank me, I’m glad you enjoy your present. Let’s just say I have my connections? It sure was not easy to have it delivered I tell you!” he replied, patting her back.  
  
Maria let go to place her new plant on her nightstand so this was what she would wake up to every day, so she got reminded to return to earth one day. To be reminded of the beauty that was her home planet. Demanding Charles to sit down next to her on her bed and telling him all the facts she knew about this flower she was just totally overflowing with joy and Charley just sat there and watched her talk. He didn’t understand a word, but if it made her happy to talk about these things it was fine with him. It was a weird feeling to be outsmarted by a girl, but she was a Robotnik, so it wasn’t much of a surprise.  
  
They sat there all evening until Maria’s schedule didn’t allow them any more time together. She had to take her medicine and go to bed. But she didn’t mind at all, she gladly went to bed with a smile and dreamt about having a big party in the garden of her old house back on earth. Terios and Charles were there by her side.  
  
Terios in the meantime was still being tested on, an all-nighter once again.  
  
This time the scientists wanted to go a step further and inflict them with more deadly wounds and diseases. Cutting off a limb seemed too extreme because the regenerating speed they’ve observed yet was too slow. _How would they explain to Maria that her friend was missing an arm?_   What if it didn’t grow back? They would’ve lost a lot of potential in a very valuable specimen. In the end, they decided to observe the hedgehog’s reaction to lack of air and later infect them with a lung disease and repeat the test.  
  
The results were incredible. Terios quickly noticed air was cut short in their room and looked at the scientists helplessly. They almost wanted to refill the room with air in fear the hedgehog would die, but just when the hedgehog was at the peak of choking they realized they were totally fine and it was just their imagination. Terios did not need to breathe air to live.  
  
Gerald began to wonder, just what he had done to this creature to become like this. He had already forgotten his deal with the aliens, with Black Doom. But this very moment reminded him how alien Terios actually was.  
  
Terios had fought the disease they infected them with very quickly, they hardly showed any symptoms other than coughing, temporary throat pains and being short of breath for a few minutes.  
  
The scientists couldn’t find the source to their healing abilities yet, their immune system worked only a little enhanced from other living creatures on earth and don’t explain the incredible speed of their regeneration. Their body doesn’t allow much insight on its insides, due to wounds regenerating fairly fast.  
  
The scientists decided to schedule a serious inspection of Terios’ inner organs after their birthday and concentrate on their chaos abilities for the next few weeks, because Gerald held special plans for the hedgehogs abilities.  
  
The week leading up to Terios’ birthday rushed by fairly quickly. They had a lot of fun with chaos tests, because that meant they could move properly and exercise, which they couldn’t do with Maria. The hedgehog enjoyed the physical exercise a lot and Gerald acknowledged this and scheduled at least 2 of those sessions per week. That would still give them enough time for their research.  
  
Terios ran faster every time, they loved being out of breath and feeling alive. They loved pretending to fly and not feel the boundaries of gravity. Whenever they used their special abilities they felt so powerful, they could move mountains. They had totally forgotten it was their first birthday soon.  
Maria was the one to remind them when she asked what they would like for a present.  
  
“Present?” Terios asked confused.  
  
“Well it’s your birthday this week, dummy!” she smiled.  
  
“I totally forgot!” the hedgehog exclaimed. They, in all honesty, didn’t want anything but knowing Maria was okay and happy. But of course they couldn’t tell her! “I um... surprise me?” they said carefully.  
  
Maria thought a little but then nod in agreement. “Alright!”  
The bond they two had was mutual so Maria knew exactly how to make their friend happy. It must be something handmade by her, just like Terios’ picture, and she knew exactly what it’d be. She looked for instruction books in the library and started working very soon.  
  
Terios was not allowed to enter her room for the next days, which offended them a little. But as soon as they were able to use up their seemingly endless energy again they had totally forgotten it and were just happy to move.  
  
Gerald insisted on removing all doors on the hallway that went all around ARK, like an outline. This way Terios could exercise better, based on their standards. He calculated that if they were to enhance the density, thus the efficiency of the use of chaos energy, Terios could reach sonic speed using the boost created by the energy.  
This was the reason he tested the hedgehogs abilities so much these days. It had to do with his birthday present for his beloved creation.  


* * *

  
  
All too soon it was the 19th of June and everyone was once again gathered in the big dining room to celebrate the birthday of a beloved “family member” of the Robotniks: Terios.  
  
A huge chocolate cake with one single red candle in its middle were just in front of the small hedgehog that stood on the chair to reach it.  
  
“Blow out and make a wish!” Maria said excited.  
  
Terios didn’t let her tell them twice and blew it out, wishing to be able to heal Maria.  
  
Looking back to their earliest memories, they have grown a lot. Physically, as well as mentally! Their fur had darkened once again and has turned into a dirty grey-brown. Their eyes were now purple, but they had a red shine to them. The red markings on their body were still prominent as ever and had not changed one bit ever since they were born. The hedgehogs fangs have grown quite a bit, though. A bite from them sure would hurt! Their voice still sounded childish, though not as much as it used to. They could be mistaken for a young boy of the age of 10 or something.  
  
A lot of things had happened and confused them, and they still had to think about these things sometimes. They couldn’t believe it’s just been a year, they felt so much older. If they tried hard enough they could remember being very young, Maria read them fairy tales to sleep.  
Everything they could remember was Maria. She truly was a big sister to them. Terios treasured every moment they spent with her and hoped to be able to go and visit her home on earth one day.  
  
The hedgehog didn’t really mind most of the experiments the scientists practiced on them, on the contrary: they found them oddly interesting. They just meant they got to know more about themselves, too. They still didn’t really know what purpose their existence had, but as long as they were able to help Maria they didn’t really mind. Even if some of them were questionable and put them in a lot of pain, there was a very good reason behind the scientist’s actions, right?  
  
The more they knew about themselves, the more they wondered how they came to be. Gerald and Maria never really explained it to them and they still didn’t get a satisfying answer as to who their biological parents were. It kind of nagged them in the back of their mind, but they tried their best to ignore it.  
  
Charles had only been on ARK for about two months or something, but he had a huge impact on Terios nonetheless. It triggered a train of thought they never considered before, since they’ve basically been held as far away as possible from gender roles, and gender altogether, thanks to Maria, but Charley introduced him to this “human” way of thinking and they couldn’t get it out of their head. It made them feel weird though, so they tried to stay as far away from this topic as possible.  
  
Charles has not been at their birthday party (which they didn’t even realize until he apologized for not coming to Maria the next day). But that didn’t matter to Terios, they had a great time.  
  
Maria had made a dress for them, like the one they found pretty in the magazines. It was red and had poofy shoulders and a skirt with a flower pattern. It was even short enough to be able to run in it - Maria had thought of everything!  
“Now close your eyes, Terios!” Maria demanded.  
“Okay.” Terios did as they were told.  
  
When they reopened their eyes, they couldn’t say a word.  
“Happy birthday, Terios. My most wonderful creation deserves the most wonderful gift.” The old professor held a shiny pair of shoes in his hands. The sole was entirely made of metal with a pure red alloy and it had small yellow engines at the bottom that resembled tiny rocket engines a lot. The shoe itself was made of a special stretchy, heat, friction, cut and water resistant material that would adapt to the size of their feet – as Gerald explained - because he didn’t know how much Terios would still grow in the coming years. They also received a pair of black socks with the shoes.  
Happily they tried their new clothes on immediately and they looked fabulous.  
  
“Thank you so much, Professor and Maria!” They didn’t know how to express their immense joy and started crying. Not understanding why, they tried to hold back their tears and apologized multiple times, reassuring that they were really happy their family cared so much about them.  
  
_“This is the happiest day of my life!”_


	7. Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to stop the summaries because i feel dumb doing these ???
> 
> This chapter is rather short, so there'll be another one coming up at the end of the month.
> 
> Warning for: Blood tests ?
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

Terios couldn’t get enough exercise, and trained their abilities daily. Excited they told Maria what new moves they learned and how much their new speed peek was that day. And Maria was happy to hear her friend was having fun.

Though, with their increased use of Chaos Energy their fur had darkened dramatically. Terios’ fur, which used to be a dirty silver a few months ago, was now pitch black; and their eyes were now a burning crimson. Their prominent red stripes remained though. The puffy fur on their chest remained bright as well - at least it would if they just took a bath for once.

The professor wanted to find a connection between the use of Chaos Energy and the change of appearance in Terios. He decided to run more tests on them and also reduced their use of abilities to see what that changed.

After not getting results out of this, except that Terios would have more energy reserves as already predicted, he decided to study all his original formulas and papers and samples from their creation. It had to have an origin, a root. And it had to be within the secret of their creation.

Searching through a pile of papers the professor found a note he had written. He must’ve been in a hurry or tired, or both.

 

Confused, Gerald began to read:

“ _ It’s a trap. The aliens are using us for their own plans. _

_ Raise the creature properly. Study the alien substance. Heal Maria. _

_ Make sure they don’t get the emeralds. _

_ Find back-up plan -> Creature? _

_ Fight back if needed (possible invasion) -> GUN co-op as last resort _

_ The Comet will return in 50 years and must be stopped.” _

 

Aliens? The creature, Terios… their Last resort? What did he mean with this? Slowly his memory returned. Hastily he hurried to a cupboard with countless samples and found one with weird letters. That must be it, he thought and picked it up.

It was dark red when light was shining right on it, but pitch black when not. This must’ve been the answers to the secrets.

The alien substance must’ve been the alien's blood. The professor only vaguely remembered what happened.

 

They talked through telepathy, the sharp sound of the alien’s voice echoed through the old man’s head all of the sudden.

_ “With my blood, your creature will be awakened and stronger than you could ever imagine. But in return, it must bring me the chaos emeralds. In 50 years I’ll be back. Don’t forget you gave me your word, Professor Gerald Robotnik.” _

 

The blood was the key. Terios’ blood must be the key.

Gerald had no time to lose. The old man sensed that something bad was going to happen. He had to figure out Terios’ secrets and find a way to protect earth from whatever the alien race wanted to do with the Chaos Emeralds that held so much power. He was helpless and felt an overwhelming guilt, yet this all was necessary to heal Maria. It was all for her.

The reason for everything was Maria.

 

The professor was right. Maria got sick, and she needed urgent medical treatment that no one could give. Gerald could not figure out what was wrong, but he didn’t want to give up.

Terios was very worried about their friend and stayed with her as much as they could. It did make her feel better to say the least.

A student of Gerald, a young Asian woman called Hikari, had the idea of making Terios sick and then use their immune system’s response against the sickness in Maria, since Terios could recover from anything they infected them with.

Everyday the scientists extracted blood from the small hedgehog to find an immune system response. Gerald then discovered that Terios’ blood was actually considerably dark and resembled the alien substance. Their blood contained not much more antibodies than a normal person would in reaction to sickness, but rather had a very special and yet undiscovered version of macrophagocytes, a cell that is specialized in eating invasive matter.

If the professor and his team were able to de- and re-specialize these cells from Terios’ body, they could cure any cancerous diseases.

* * *

 

“How do you feel?” Terios carefully snuggled against their friend to comfort them.

“It doesn’t work that fast, Terios.” she couldn’t help but giggle, despite the pain in her neck and spine. “But I sure feel better now that you are here.”

Maria’s smile gave the hedgehog a sense of comfort and hope. She was going to be okay.  
“Good!” They replied, smiling back.

“How are you two kids doing?” Gerald came in.

Maria gave them a tired smile. “I’m fine, grandfather! Thanks to you and Terios.”

The professor sat down next to his beloved granddaughter. She looked so fragile. He had to find a way to cure her.  
“Can you remember when this all started?” he started stroking his mustache.

“I think it was last month, a few days after my birthday… That’s when I started to feel weak.”

Terios’ eyes moved to the potted plant that Charley had given her. Maria took good care of it.  
Gerald had noticed it too, but first he did not think it was a real flower.  
“Maria, since when do you have this flower in your room? Did Charles give it to you?” the old man was never fond of GUN.

“Is it possible that GUN did a lousy job and your gift was not sterile?

Maria stayed silent and stared at her flower.

“I had found bacteria in Terios’ blood, and their immune system response to these has made you feel better. I can only assume that Williams is responsible for this.”

In the back of their mind, Terios was glad that Charles was getting in trouble. But then again they didn’t want Maria sick.

The old professor had a lot of work the next days. His team extracted more blood samples from Terios to be ready for emergencies with Maria. It was only a temporary defense against diseases but it had made her a lot healthier.

Gerald had spent a lot of time figuring out how to make the plant meet Maria’s safety needs while still living openly in her room. Eventually he found out how to repel the bad bacteria.

Lastly Gerald complained to Jonathan Williams, Charles father, about the inexcusable behavior of his son towards his poor sick granddaughter.

Unfortunately, he made a mistake.  
In his anger, he accidentally revealed Terios and their healing properties to him. Williams used his chance and proposed a deal. He and the government would supply Gerald with all the money and equipment he needed without telling anyone a word, but in return, GUN scientists were to be allowed full access to the research data concerning his project.

Gerald knew that if he refused, he would get Terios taken away from him  _ forcefully _ . He had no choice but to accept. It would not be easy to keep Terios’ other abilities secret, but it was his responsibility. Who knew what the military would do with them once they found out?

Terios was not allowed to practice their abilities anymore, only on rare occasions. And that surely made them upset.

The next examination Terios was introduced to the new scientists from GUN; specifically a young man who was assigned as student to Gerald who would “need” practical experiences with genetic modification. His name was Theodor Brown. He had already been strolling around the labs, taking notes the last few months. Gerald found him rather sympathetic and decided he would not harm the operation.

 

Theodor made great effort bonding with Terios, because he found them very fascinating. They were a truly masterpiece of creation.

“I am very pleased to meet you in person, Terios.” he smiled faintly. “My name is Theodor.”

“Hello?” Terios looked at him confused, and then turned to Gerald with a questioning look on their face.

Gerald just shook his head and worked on his papers, helplessly.

“Is it true that you are immune to all sicknesses? And that you can heal practically any wound?”

“I guess?” they nervously looked around.

Theodor asked a lot of other weird questions until he finally stopped to help the professor with some paper work.

 

The next weeks were rather calm. Terios got used to Theo and didn’t feel too nervous around him anymore. The hedgehog eventually started to talk about things they were not supposed to. Gerald had forgotten to tell them, but now it was too late: Terios had been bragging about their speed and strength.

Interested Theo started studying Terios’ body build, and used all papers he had access to, to find out the secrets to the hedgehogs agility and strength, as well as their incredible regenerative properties.

Then one day after he had finished his own study on Terios he turned to Gerald. “Do you have any idea what you had created in this little hedgehog?”

“Tell me.” Gerald asked daring.

“He is the key to our success. The key to everything. He is going to change the world."

He took a deep breath.

" _He is going to_ _save the world_. ”

  
  



	8. Recruitment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No trigger warning apply for this chapter.  
> Might note I made a WWII reference.
> 
> Sorry the chapters are so short akdjjajk  
> Once my backups are up the chapters will get longer again.
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

In a very short time Terios was very popular with the GUN scientists. Gerald didn't like this at all. Terios was  _ his _ ... creature. He didn't use this word for them since forever. They were more like their own child by now; and if he was honest with himself, Gerald knew this was dangerous. He should never have bonded with them in the first place.

The old man was persistent about one thing though: Terios was only meant to be used for medical research. The Scientists at GUN wanted to use them for dangerous genetic engineering research.

It was the year 1939 when GUN found out about Terios’ "potential". They were trying on their own to create super soldiers to win the war, but failed by far. Gerald could eventually figure out how to fix their errors, but he was pacifist and neglected violence. He only accepted the military help because it was for a greater cause.

Gerald and his crew are refugees from Spagonia. Their sudden radical politics would have killed Maria for being "a burden" and Gerald could not accept that. He was lucky that the United Federation and their military operation GUN took his family and crew in. The professor promised to use the financial aid to make the world a better place and help out the UF soldiers any way he can. Which was a mistake as it turned out now.

Without even asking Gerald for permission, he was told that Terios was now a possible new recruit for training. When asked, Terios said they wanted to do more than just sit and get examined. They had talked about this with Theodor, who said that they had great chances. The old man could not believe what was happening. His darkest fears came true. What would Maria say to this? The poor Maria...

"Terios, are you entirely sure they did not manipulate your opinion on this?" the professor’s voice was trembling.

"Yes, professor." they nod.

"And you are sure you will not get hurt? Can you leave anytime when you don't feel comfortable?" Gerald's forehead was bathed in sweat. He couldn't stop imagining what bad things could happen to his beloved child in his absence.

"I will make sure this is true. I mean, I can talk to them about this!" Terios said confident.

"I'm not so sure about that... Listen Terios, these humans are not like me and the other scientists. They... don't always do the right thing, even though they think they do." he stroked his moustache to calm himself. "I'm asking you now, what do  _ you _ want to achieve in your life?"

The hedgehog looked at their creator with big eyes. What  _ did _ they want?

Terios had never thought of their life in general. They just existed all of the sudden and did what they were told. Now they could freely decide.

Maria was their number one priority, no question, but besides that... Saving other people was their goal. Giving them a chance to live a happy life; safe and healthy.

But they couldn't do that by just sitting in a lab all day for all eternity. They had to directly reach out to people. GUN wanted just that: help the people directly. Literally lend them a hand and fight off evil. They trained  _ heroes _ , just like the ones from the stories Terios had read. And they could be one of them. This is what they wanted in their heart, they could feel it.

They took a deep breath.

"I am Terios. I am the ultimate lifeform. I want to help Maria recover and go back to earth and see her happy, because that makes me happy!"

The professor smiled.

"I also want to make a change." Terios' eyes sparkled with ambition. "I want to become a hero and save people! I want to become stronger so I can protect everyone. I can't be hurt anyway; besides, I am the ultimate life form after all! I can do anything, right professor?" They paused. "I can do  _ good _ ."

Gerald's throat was dry as the Shamar dessert. "Yes, Terios. You can do good." He knew it was too late.

"I'm so glad!" Terios exclaimed and embraced the professors round stomach. "Thank you, professor. Thank you for everything."

Gerald didn't say anything. He could just wait for what the hedgehog had to say next.

"I will not let you down. I'm staying with you in the laboratory and I will help healing Maria. But I will also do my best to get stronger. I'm happy you understand!"

The old man nod and gently stroked the  hedgehog'shedgehogs head. "Whatever you think is right, Terios. I trust you."

In reality he wasn't sure if he could trust them once they joined sides with GUN, but on the other hand it did help with his research. The professor just had so much to deal with now.

Gerald had two "jobs" now and he also had to take care of Maria and teach her classes. And if that wasn't enough already, there was an entire alien race after him and his creation. And since Terios came to be through their blood, he assumed these creatures to be of similar strength.

Gerald did not believe in a God, but in times like these he wished he did. It was only a matter of time before stress would win the upper hand of him.

* * *

 

“You did  _ what _ ?” the young girl held up her friend in her arms. “Are you  _ serious _ ?!”

“Yes!” Terios laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ve talked to the professor about this already. Everything is okay.”

“My little Terios is going to be a  **hero** !” she spun them around in joy. Then she stopped. “But promise me not to hurt anyone. Even the bad guys.”

Terios smiled. “I promise.”

Maria didn’t think much of GUN, but she believed that people could change. And she believed in Terios, that they could be the change they needed. Charley was a little different. He was raised with the wrong intentions, the wrong people. Maria knew he was going to take his father's position eventually, but she hoped she could somehow influence him in a positive way.

He, himself, didn’t think so at all. Charley, just like Terios, wanted to become a hero. He wanted to make a change in this world. If he fought as a soldier in war and helped his nation win in the name of peace, he would be a hero.

Back on earth, he had heard stories of veterans from the first world war. They were all given the title of a hero and honored until death. Never shall they be forgotten, neither should he.

Once he was old enough, Charley wanted to sign up for his dad’s special training program here on the ARK. His birthday was coming up soon and he could finally begin. He’s been training on his own for a long time; and here on the ARK it was more important than anywhere else to stay fit.

Though, once he had heard about his father’s plans to take a closer look at Terios… Man was he jealous; and he couldn’t even imagine what still was to come.

It made him ambitious to work even harder. He didn’t trust the hedgehog at all, he had to stress he was an animal all the time. Moreover, that he had to have a gender. Everything about this creature was unnatural.

_ Disgusting. _

The day had come and Terios was ready for the qualification exam. Much to their joy it was a physical exam, a parkour to be precise. GUN’s quarter on ARK was huge and Terios could not believe they hadn’t seen this much of their own home yet. They were excited to explore the area, but had to stay in line with the others. Gerald and Maria were coming with them to watch; and cheer.

The parkour was laid out in a huge hall that mimicked different types of terrain on earth, as well as obstacles and puzzles that needed to be solved. Charley had trained hard to master this parkour for a long time and didn’t like the idea of the hedgehog beating his best time on the run. If he did, the boy would have a serious adversary. In his career as well in his private life. Maria liked the rodent more than himself, which was unacceptable.

Two soldiers brought Terios down to the hall, while the humans were led up to the viewing platform.

“Will Terios be alright, grandfather?” Maria asked looking down at where her friend disappeared in a door.

“I sure hope so.” the professor replied. “If they just harm a quill of theirs I’ll make sure GUN will face consequences.” They eyed the commander, who was standing a little father from them. He only nod.

The soldiers had entered the locker room with Terios.

“Undress.” one of them said.

“Oh?” Terios didn’t really know what was going on and got their dress off.

“You can’t wear this.” he took it away from them.

“We don’t have any uniforms in your size, I hope you don’t mind staying like this.” the other one added.

“I’m okay!” Terios replied smiling.

“This is not a playground out there. You are here to become a soldier; and in all honesty… I don’t really see this happening.” The first one said. “You don’t stand a chance. The commander will ask you if you want to bail, and I advice you do to do just that.”

“What are you, anyway?” The other added.

“I’m the ultimate lifeform.” the hedgehog replied proudly.

The soldiers just chuckled and told them to go outside.

They entered the hall.

“Applicant  _ CEUL-123, codename ‘Terios’, for GUN recruitment program. _ ” A soldier called. “ _ On your mark. _ ”

 


	9. Sold Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for: Transphobia.
> 
> Changed my user name its still me askdjsakdas
> 
> Sorry the chapters are so short akdjjajk  
> Once my backups are up the chapters will get longer again.
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

Never in their life had Terios been this ready.  
It was time to show the professor, the commander, the soldiers, Maria and just everyone else on ARK what they were made of.

When they heard the gunshot they knew it was time to go. Faster than ever they ran towards the obstacles and jumped over them with ease, climbed them like it was nothing. The terrain didn't slow them down at all; they didn't touch the ground at the speed they were going. Terios had so much energy in their feet that they literally walked on the air.

When they arrived at the urban maze area, they stopped for second. They didn't know if it was cheating, but they just climbed up the walls of a "building" and jumped over the "rooftops". Nothing stood in their way.

In mere 30 seconds Terios had finished the obstacle race that a trained soldier absolved in about 4 minutes.

"This was way too easy..." Terios mumbled panting as they came to a halt.

The soldier’s jaws dropped at the sight of the hedgehogs speed. How could this small thing be so fast?

The GUN scientist team looked at the recordings of the run in slow motion, fanatically taking notes.

The commander smirked pleased and turned to the old professor. "You have a very fascinating creature, professor Robotnik."

The professor glared at him.

"I'm sure you will not regret our cooperation."

Maria disliked the sound of his voice and turned away. She looked at Terios down in the hall and waved. Terios spotted her and waved back. The hedgehog grinned proudly.

* * *

 

The commander called Gerald in his office for 'further discussion'.

"Do you think you can transfer its abilities to a human?"

"Dear Chaos! No! It would tear a human apart from the insides. Terios is not a creature to be compared to anything living on earth." The professor felt incredibly uncomfortable. He lied to make sure nothing bad happens and he still had the control over his child.

"What even are its abilities to begin with?" Johnathan tapped his fingers on the table. "It is fast and very strong regarding its pitiful small body."

"They can regenerate and heal very fast and are immune against every single disease we tested on them." The professor knew what was about to come.

"This is amazing, professor Robotnik. These abilities..." Gerald held his breath. "Can this creature be reproduced?" This was it. "It could bring us the victory in this war."

"I can't." the old man exhaled. He had to find a way around. He remembered the notes about the alien creatures from last year. They would return in about fifty years and who knew what they would do. Gerald felt like it was his duty to hold them off, because he was the one to invite them in the first place. Even if it was an accident; more or less.

He could use their own plans against them. If the creatures wanted the chaos emeralds, Gerald had to make sure he, or someone else who will watch over the ARK when the time has come, had them first. Once Gerald figured out what else chaos energy could be used for, he could build a machine that could save earth from these creatures. Even if that meant using force, no matter how much he despised this idea.

“Terios is unique. A one-time experiment. I’m sorry, Commander, Sir.”

“How unfortunate.” Jonathan held his chin. “At least we do have this unique creature here right now. We shall focus on training it. At this rate, we have a chance to win and end this war for good.”

Gerald stayed silent.

“Thanks to your help, professor.” He put his hand on the old man’s shoulder. “You are a true hero.”

The old man had never felt this horrible.

Terios had since then been assigned to train with GUN at least for four days of the week because “a war can’t be won with medicine”. But that’s not the only thing they assigned to the unknowing hedgehog…

Terios had to get registered for their special unit soldier program & combat training. This resulted in them sitting with a counselor, who also was there to confirm the registration. They didn’t know about “gender”, so when asked they just gave a confused look.

“You’re bound to be something!?” was the response of the man writing everything down.

“I’m Terios?” the hedgehog answered. “I’m an experiment created by the Professor. I… Was never assigned a… ‘Gender’?”

“That professor does sloppy work.” The man leaned forward and eyed Terios annoyed, then pressed a button at his desk. “Doc. Please come in we need you to check up on the new recruit.” He leaned back into his chair and waited for a GUN scientist for examination.

* * *

 

The small hedgehog had to work out a lot and get as much physical exercise as possible for him to get stronger than he already was. That’s all that counted now: strength.

And he was strong.

Day after day he left his colleagues baffled when he lifted weights with ease, which grown men had to train ages for.

The innocent child he was, Terios did not understand what he had gotten into. For him this was all fun and games, as well as an opportunity to become a hero as they were in stories. He really believed he was doing something good and Gerald hoped deeply that Terios’ heart would stay strong and not lose its pure intentions. It would break his own heart to see his creation become a puppet of the military.

It was his fault, in the end. That’s what the professor kept telling himself.

Maria believed in Terios. “We raised them good; they would not fall for their lies! They are way too stubborn for that!” is what she always said.

After Terios had been training for many days straight Gerald filed a complaint that he didn’t get his turn in doing research with the hedgehog. Unwillingly the commander granted him a few days, but emphasized that there will be a stricter routine in the future with more time for the military; to “make up for the lost year Terios was staying hidden from him”.

It was early in the morning when Terios came back to the laboratories. He was smiling very brightly, which made Maria even happier to see him again. Gerald was just glad to see his small and fragile creation back “home” where he belonged.

“And one time I was so awesome someone started crying of joy.” Terios told Maria all about the last few days at training while the professor got some blood samples.

Despite the joy in her friend's voice and face she couldn’t help but worry, she knew those men were up to no good.

“You’re not doing anything dangerous though, are you?”

“No, we’re just playing games and working out!” Terios smiled at her, ambition in his eyes. “When I did good I get a reward at the end of the day. Mostly sweets. I love sweets!”

“Grandfather, did you hear that? Terios is a sweet tooth!” Maria commented jokingly. (Chocolate would’ve been a good name after all!) She understood that it was best to leave Terios in his belief that everything was okay right now. Grandfather sure would find a way to get him back and prevent the worst. She had faith in the old man.

The professor couldn’t help but smile. “You grow so fast but in the end you are still a child, eh?”

“Right! Before I forget; I need to tell you something!” the hedgehog just remembered something important and stood up.

“Oh, what is it?” Maria asked curiously.

“I’m a boy now!” Terios exclaimed with a grin on his face.

Maria and Gerald looked at each other. G.U.N.’s influence was far greater and much faster than they ever could have expected.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you are confused about the constant switching between pronouns now: Terios was assigned to be male by the GUN scientists, while Gerald and Maria acknowledged him being agender naturally.
> 
> The pronouns should sink in for every character next chapter.


	10. Project Shadow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for: Transphobia, physical child abuse
> 
> this one's short but heavy ;;;;
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

“How come now?” Maria was the first to recollect her thoughts.

“This doctor from GUN explained it to me!” Terios explained smiling, “I should ask you why you didn’t tell me in the first place?”

The professor stroked his beard, searching for a way to put it for the child. “Because you’re different from humans...” He paused, “but if you decided that this is what you want to be - so be it.”

Gerald was concerned. How much power did GUN have over Terios’ future development? Deciding for a gender wasn’t that big of a deal. Terios’ body had always been more on the masculine side. But what would come next? Would they try to manipulate his personality? Rob him of his humanity to turn him into whatever monster they have in mind?

He had to have faith in Terios now. In all he’s taught him, in the values he raised him to live by and in his love for Maria. They both wanted to see her healthy again. See her run around in a flower field, enjoying the fresh mountain air and enjoying a summer breeze as the sun shines on her golden hair.

Somedays Maria couldn’t leave her bed at all because she was too weak, the next day she would dance with Terios in her room, showing her newest favorite song to him.

They both cherished their time together, and at first they did not care much about the training at GUN.    
Maria didn’t like the military, but she was ready to tolerate it because since participating in their training Terios had become so much more lively. In the end she cared more about him than her principles. Besides, she was sure that Terios couldn’t even harm a fly.

In contrast to the children’s fun times in Maria’s room, there was the time when they were apart.   
Maria and Gerald used the time in Terios’ absence to study and get back into the schedule the hedgehog had broken when he joined the family. She was glad to be back with her books. Studies of the universe, of nature and the very things that make us human; they’ve always fascinated her.

Terios found it interesting too, but he did not understand the language from the science books yet. He decided to catch up first and study something easier whenever he had the time. It worked pretty well, since he sucked up knowledge like a sponge whenever he got invested in a subject. He wouldn’t rest until he knew every little detail; or until he got tired and fell asleep.

Now that he was training with G.U.N. those times were reduced to a minimum, though. The commander had set his physical training to be the top priority to prepare him for combat as soon as possible; to get the most out of him.  
He knew the professor, it was impossible to keep secrets from him in his own base. He knew about the monsters Gerald had created a few years ago. And he was sure he would’ve noticed Terios very soon, too. Now that they had him, they were bound to become unstoppable.

Things went unchanged for the next few months. Terios’ health had improved with the increase of physical activity, even though no one would’ve thought it could improved to begin with. Gerald and his team weren’t even remotely close to understanding his regenerative abilities, or at least how to extract them into another lifeform. They eventually started infusing his blood to small rodents to test if its unique cellular build had any influence in terrestrial life.

The experiments failed, as all tested animals died very soon after having a huge rush of energy. There were no known causes of this phenomenon, so the scientists had to keep looking for clues in that alien hedgehog.

Terios had become quieter, but not as much as Maria. She missed her friend a lot. Charles often looked after her in his absence, but he wasn’t considerate of Maria's condition as much as the professor would want to. He knew Maria enjoyed not to be treated like the sick incurable girl that had to stay in bed, but some days she really risked her life going on expeditions on her own. Charles only encouraged her to overstep her limits.

She wanted to be independent so badly that she risked getting worse. Sometimes she even doubted that her grandfather would ever find a cure for her, that she would eventually die anyway. If that was true, she wanted to have accomplished something and… lived.

Every so often she looked out of the window into the vast beauty of space and the earth, which looked so small and harmless to her.

 

* * *

Meanwhile the G.U.N. scientists were studying Gerald’s documents about his “CEUL”-Project. They decided to branch off their own investigations in another direction: controlled mutation and regeneration. They basically owned the rights to Terios now, so they were able to examine him as they pleased.

G.U.N.’s perception of ownership had not fully shown until one day…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHH THIS HURTS!!! STOP!! TAKE IT AWAY! I’M GOING TO-“

The small hedgehogs voice echoed through the soundproof hall he was in. Tears in his eyes he looked up at his "master", growling aggressively, hurt in his eyes.

“Why-?”

“This was for your own good.” Commander Williams looked down on him. “If you want your friend to be able to go back to earth you will need to cooperate, understood _soldier_?”

“What did you do to me?”

“This was nothing but an official registration of your new status. The sooner you stop questioning my actions, the better.”

The commander and the scientists left.

 

Terios’ eyes were still wet from the cry, his heart was still racing from the split second of the burning sensation and the stinging pain in his whole body. He was trembling uncontrolled and his eyes… His eyes were burning in anger. He was confused, enraged, desperate, hurt and exhausted. Everything at once.

A Young woman, an assistant or a nurse that had been standing in the background for quite a while, approached him with a wet, cold towel.

“Toma esto chiquito.” She spoke in a language Terios didn’t understand. He couldn’t move.

“Pobrecito…” she held the towel against his wound and thought for a second before speaking again, but now in English. “Are you feeling any better?”

Terios let out a painful groan as the wet and cold cloth touched his bare skin, but he soon was filled with a sense of relief. “Thank you.” Was all he could bring out.

They remained like this for a few minutes. Terios was glad this unknown woman knew kindness and let him collect himself after this horrid experience. She quietly whispered a song in that weird foreign language.

After a while Terios was back to his senses and turned to look at her. “Who are you?”

“I am your new guardian.” She smiled at him weakly. “At least for now.”

 

“Guardian?” the hedgehog asked with a puzzled frown. He already had the Professor.

“Yes, I was told to look after you. I’ll accompany you when you go to the Professor. Commander Williams said it was important to know you are in good hands and had someone to talk to whenever you needed to, no matter where you are.” She paused for a second. “My name is Ana. I really didn’t like what they just did to you, but I think it’s better if we do this together so everything will be okay! We have each other!”

“My name is Terios.” he didn’t care about the whole guardian thing anymore. “Speaking of  _ them _ … What did they do?”

Ana turned to the bucket not far away on the floor. A long stick poked out and from the bucket came steam.

Terios couldn’t piece this picture together. Registration… The bucket… The pain…

Giving his new friend a questioning look she noticed how bad this was.

“Oh niñito.“ She slowly approached his face with her hands, waiting for his approval until she gently put her hands to his cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? Are you crying? What’s wrong?”

“They burn marked you like some kind of cattle.” Terios’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Was all she could bring out anymore. “You’re not just an animal, don’t make them think this. I’ve talked to the Professor, he told me how clever you are.”

Terios didn’t listen. A burn mark. 

Registration.

“What’s written on it?” the young hedgehog had never been this serious in his life. He only now understood what he’d gotten himself into.

“Can you… turn around?” Ana merely whispered.

Terios turned around, despite the pain that still lingered in his upper back. It had to be right between his back quills. Bastards.

“Oh no.”

“Oh no, what? What does it say? Tell me!”

_ “Project Shadow – Property of G.U.N.” _


	11. Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for: physical child abuse, murder, blood
> 
> Happy new year yall :) ignore those warnings haha we are all here for the fun right
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

 “Property!?” Terios was furious. He wasn't an object or a pet. He was a person.

His back still ached, his body trying hard to heal the burning wound. A scar remained, the letters perfectly readable. Despite the pain he jumped off the table and walked towards the door.

“Where are you going, Terios?” Ana asked.

“I’m going to talk to the commander. And the professor.” Terios was determined to bring justice to the situation. Williams had no right to do this to him. He didn't know yet, but scars stay a life long. Even for him. And what he yet didn't know as well was the number of scars he was yet to receive.

 

 

“Silence, soldier!” Williams tone was aggressive. “You are bound to obey my orders. I can cancel your friends space vacation anytime if I want. Cooperating is your only option.”

“Did you have to dehumanize me with this mark though? I’ve been willing to cooperate until now, but that is absurd. If you think I’ll be silent about this, you are wrong.”

“Dehumanize a creature like you? You are merely an experiment, an unpredictable beast. I am here to give you the life you deserve, to give you the freedom of doing what you want.” Williams’ eyes were fixated on the small hedgehog beneath him. ”It seems I have been too soft, for you to question our commander’s authority. Disobedience will be punished.”

“This isn't fair! This isn’t just!”

“You don't get to decide what is fair or just. I am in command and my word is law for as long as you live in my colony.” He slammed his hand on the table. “I am tired of your nagging. If you tell your old man about our top-secret mission we have no other choice but to eliminate either of you.”

Terios frowned, tears in his eyes. He didn't want to risk anything bad happening to Maria or the professor. Unwillingly he nod in silence.

The commander smiled in triumph. “That's better, isn't it?” He put his hand on Terios’ head, patting him like a dog.

Terios despised the commander, but he had no other choice it seemed.

He and Ana promised to keep silent to everyone else, but talked about everything that happened to each other. She tried to distract him from the painful experiments the G.U.N. scientists performed on him by teaching him her language: Spanish.

Terios found a great content in learning something new and telling Maria all about it when he got the chance to. He never told Maria about the burn mark on his back, but he knew he eventually should. He just had to find a way to convince the commander.

 

A hopeful delusion.

 

The commander couldn’t be convinced otherwise, Terios had to learn the hard way.

 

Soon Terios was arranged to engage in combat against other soldiers in training. He had always been in defense mode, pushing them away, making them fall over, but always making sure they were unharmed.

Williams didn’t like this at all. He urged Terios to show more effort. After still being too soft with the soldiers the commander ordered them to hurt the hedgehog. Maybe if force was used, he would use force himself was what he told himself.

And it was true. Reflexive Terios punched the soldier away that approached him dangerously, making him gasp in pain.

 

Terios was not aware of his power, aware of the consequences they had.

 

When he held back, he was punished. When he went all out, he was punished. It was like he became the commanders punching bag.

It was of great interest for him to drive Terios to his limits, so his full potential could be released. With that data they were able to recreate the hedgehog’s powers in their own soldiers. Or perhaps replicate the hedgehog as soldier, who was very conveniently dark and able to camouflage in the Shadows.

 

One fateful day Terios reached his limit; he just wanted things to end, to be with Maria and take a break. He didn't mean to do it, he didn't even know he was capable of it. He turned his back to the soldiers he was meant to fight to face the commander in his observatory, pleading for them to stop and let him out.

As the commander declined and the soldiers behind him started making mocking remarks Terios’ anger only rose. He clenched his fists, grit his teeth and tried his hardest to breathe slowly.

 

Without realizing what was going on, he felt his fingertips tingle. But it was more of an excited rush than anything else. He was overcome by the urge to lash out, so he turned around and threw his arm around in a rejecting motion and yelled “Leave me alone.”

 

His words echoed through the room for a next felt minute. He couldn't grasp what just happened. Terios just crouched in shock and it was like he was watching the scene unfold in slow motion.

From his fingertips escaped pure energy in the form of a lightning bolt which pierced through the three soldiers before him. It just took one second to kill them and dye their uniforms and the floor red.

 

Terios’ eyes filled with tears as he unbelievably stared at his hands, which were still covered in little sparks of energy, jumping from one finger to the other.

Breathing heavily, he fell to his knees. “I didn't want this. I didn't want this. I'm so sorry.” he muttered to himself as he bent down and could only support his weight with leaning on his hands, fists clenched tightly so he didn't have to see those sparks.

The pool of blood slowly reaching his hands, staining his fur with its warmth while the hedgehog sobbed miserably.

 

A pathetic sight. A tragedy the hedgehog should never forget.

 

And in this moment of sorrow he suddenly heard slow clapping over the speakers. “ _Excellent work, Terios! **This** is what I wanted!_ ” the commander exclaimed in the most excited tone Terios ever heard escape from his lips.

 

The hedgehog's stinging eyes widened as they overflew with tears. He felt like a disgusting monster. He just killed three people. His hands were literally dipped in their blood. How could the commander celebrate this outcome?

Even after all this he was still shaking uncontrollably. Of course he couldn't tell Maria or the professor of his new powers. Quite frankly, he didn't want to know about them himself.

 

After this the hedgehog didn't fight against live people anymore and was tasked to fight against the robots and fighting mechs that were also developed aboard ARK.

Due to recent events, Terios was frequently put under a lot of stress to maximize his powers. His strength increased exponentially after every session with Professor Gerald, but it also decreased drastically after training for an extended period of time. He eventually ended up having fevers after training, which were unexplainable by any medical knowledge available at this time.

The commander didn't want to lose his prized possession, so he ordered Gerald to find a cure for whatever Terios was going through.

Gerald was already suspicious, so he ran a few tests as soon as he could. Terios’ life energy depended on the amount of chaos energy flowing through his body. By the excessive use of his abilities he quickly burns it up, quite literally.

 

Gerald had to find a way to contain the energy and limit Terios’ use of them to a minimum.

Countless researching followed and eventually the professor found a metal combination that was just right for his purposes.

The results were golden rings to be worn around the wrists. Gerald sensed they could be very useful in making Terios less valuable for GUN so he made sure Terios couldn't take them off without his help.

The hedgehog in question didn't like this at all. Sure, he was glad not to be sick anymore, but the rings were itchy on the wrists. He also couldn't use those sparks of energy anymore - this he was thankful for, though.

 

The commander reacted displeased, as well. The decrease of power angered him, just as the old man predicted.

 

“What have you done to my soldier!?”

“You wanted him healthy, so there he is!”

“I don't need his limited potential! This doesn't win a war!”

“That is not my problem, commander. He was not _meant_ to fight in a war. He was made for finding a cure to terminal diseases, not to fight on the battlefield.”

The commander grunted. “I’ll make him. And if it's not him I’ll find out how he functions, so we can implement this in our own kind.”

“This is insane!” The professor felt a sting in his chest. He was responsible for all this.

“No, professor. This is revolutionary.” Williams laid his hand on Gerald's shoulder before he left.

The old man was once again overwhelmed with guilt. There had to be a way to use G.U.N.s plans against them. Terios was not their property, at least not officially, they couldn't use a live creative for their own means as they pleased.

 

Terios was still a person.

 

The hedgehog in question didn't know about this. All he knew was that he had to become stronger and please those military people if he didn't want to be scolded. When he was too slow his legs were whipped. If he didn't punch hard enough his wrists and hands were beat.

It was a very questionable method, but it worked. Terios made less and less “mistakes”, fearing the next scolding, not knowing what lie to tell Maria this time. It was for her, and only her, that he endured this. He couldn't risk her having to return to earth before she was healthy.

 

Over time Terios developed serious insecurities which lead to less communication and more distrust. He couldn’t even properly speak to his friend Maria anymore. She was just as close as a sister to him, but the constant need to lie and the pressure to ruin the whole mission and have her sent back became too much for the poor little creature.

Maria was worried about her furry friend, too. She knew something was wrong; and she knew he wasn’t allowed to talk about it. It killed her inside not to know what they were doing to her friend. It must’ve been horrible, considering how much he had changed in such a short time.

Sneaky as she was, she tried to get information out of Charley, who liked to boast about his father being a top-secret commander and whatnot. All she could gather was that they were training him to be a soldier, who should be sent down to earth to bring peace.

 

How could such a noble plan make Terios so _miserable_ , though?

 

 


	12. Beyond All Limits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terios isn't actively scolded in this chapter but I think you all know that hes just treated badly in general.  
> I'll put warnings for bloody violence if it appears again but abuse is pretty much the norm here on Space Colony ARK
> 
> English is not writers first language, pardon grammar/expressive errors. Have fun!

Breathless, Terios broke down on the floor. He had fought countless of battle robot prototypes as well as soldiers wielding new and more modern weapons. The tired hedgehog was not granted a single break during all those hours.

 

“Please, what more do you want me to do?” he clenched his fists as he worked himself back up on his feet, a new and even bigger robot approaching.

 

“This is the last one for today, I promise.” The commander said assuring with a smile. Of course he did – he was behind a doubled bulletproof glass wall; sitting in his comfortable chair as if it was a throne, looking down on the creature below him fight for his entertainment.

Secretly, of course, Williams hoped that the increased pressure and hopelessness would make Terios desperate enough to use his strong lighting attack again.

 

Terios: The most efficient weapon in existence of mankind and also the cheapest and best way to test and improve the weapons designed on the Space Colony ARK. It was the perfect plan.

 

Fighting those machines, Terios would get stronger, and in return the machines had to improve to keep up with him. And if a weapon could keep up with this ultimate creature, then it shouldn’t have any problems with the Spagonian army.

 

At this rate the war could be ended this very year.

 

The struggling hedgehog took all his left strength together as he approached his last enemy. He fought so much that day that not even his limiters were of any use to control his power. In the end he was still way too inexperienced in using them, not able to concentrate on the raw power itself, and rather using an impure kind, losing lots of energy in entropy more than anything else.

 

Landing a very weak punch on the robot he collapsed to the ground and passed out of exhaustion.

 

Commander Williams frowned displeased. “It seems I have still been too soft with him.”

 

Ana looked at him very concerned but quickly looked away and tried to hide her true feelings. She stared down at the ground. If she just could do anything… It simply was impossible. She couldn’t risk having to go back to earth now, not now that she had gotten this extremely well paid job. The money was needed very badly, there was no way around it. She had to submit to the injustice on ARK.

 

“If we restrain him more and make him desperate, he will learn to keep his powers in check and stop wasting so much energy.” He turned to the scientist that was in the same room with him. “take away his chaos emerald. Run tests in it in the meanwhile, it seems to be a good and reliable energy source.” With these words the commander walked away.

 

Terios was carried out of the arena and put in “his room”. It had more resemblance with a prison cell than the room of a child. It was very dimly lit and sparse.

 

The hedgehog was left to rest on his hard mattress on the ground, a bottle of water placed down next to it. He was still exhausted and unconscious.

 

He dreamt of a better time, of being with Maria, of going to earth with her. Her smiling face made the hedgehog feel warm and happy, and all the flowers around them were pretty and smelled nice.

 

…

 

A very distinct stinging in his wrists woke the hedgehog up from his dream. The rings on his wrists were made in a haste so they were not fitting him properly and had some impurities that rubbed on his skin and caused pain.

 

Sitting up he tried to adjust the annoying bracelets and took a deep breath. He was doing this for Maria and the professor.

 

Still rather exhausted he reached in his quills for the chaos emerald to soak up some energy, only to notice that it was missing. Terios had trouble channeling raw chaos energy and had to directly take the energy from the emerald. He didn’t feel like eating whatever GUN brought him, so chaos energy was mainly what he depended on.

 

Clenching his fists, he let out a small growl. The commander was already going way too far but he always found ways to make Terios’ life even more of a hell than it already was. The hedgehog opened his eyes and stared at the door. He could still feel a faint trace of energy. Maybe, if he concentrated enough, he could…

 

Taking another deep breath, he tried to relax and concentrate on the emeralds power. Faintly and very weakly he could feel its presence nearby.

 

This very moment he remembered what the professor once said about chaos energy. It is everywhere; it just is most concentrated in its purest form inside the chaos emeralds. They are the so called servers, channeling the energy into a medium that can be perceived by us mortals.

 

Terios then tried his best to absorb the energy around him; and even if it wasn’t much that he managed to acquire, it was more than enough to make him feel better about himself and his situation. If he learned to control his powers better, he would be able to pay the commander back for his crimes and make sure Maria could be cured.

 

Marias cure… The professor still wasn’t making much progress in that department. The infusion experiments on rodents were still unsuccessful. Terios was not needed in Gerald’s laboratory anymore, at least that’s what he was told. He had not seem Maria or the professor in a long time; and if he was entirely honest with himself, it probably was for the better.

 

He was less dangerous now that the restrainers were on him, but he didn’t know how to face Maria again. Sometimes he wished to be able to talk to her again and ease his mind, but that was nothing more than a foolish dream.

 

Terios even started doubting he would ever see her again, and that the commander would just make him fight until he died; but if he could protect Maria this way, then it was worth it. This was all worth it if it meant Maria had a carefree life and a chance of getting cured and going back to earth safely.

 

\----------

In reality, the professor had distanced himself from the work on the cure in order to work on the preparations for the aliens’ return. He trusted his team to do their best, he had taught them all that he knew. Once he figured out how to keep the planet safe in the future and prevent the worst possible outcome, he could join them with the research for the cure.

 

If the comet was to approach earth as closely as it did those two years ago, then it should be possible to destroy it with a very powerful weapon. But what could possibly power a weapon this… powerful?

 

Chaos. 

 

The chaos emeralds! According to old legends, gathering all seven would perform a miracle and grant ultimate power.

 

Miracles don’t exist, though. Just by giving Terios those emeralds and granting him godly strength, Maria would not be able to be cured. This was such a foolish and absurd thought.

 

Studying the chaos emerald’s power might bring forth new ideas on how to develop a solution for the alien problem. As much as he despised it, Gerald might have to cooperate with GUN, since he had not created weaponry or anything the likes before.

 

Maria could not know about this at all costs. She would be furious and hurt, but most of all would she be scared. It would break Gerald’s heart to see his fragile little grand daughter suffer more than she necessarily had because of her sickness. An ache of heart and soul was greater than any disease.

 

Thinking of GUN though, the professor had long not heard from Terios. In fact, the last time he saw his creation was when he had to create those restraining rings for him. That had been weeks ago. It was feeling very bothersome that Maria had not complained about seeing Terios again in quite a while.

 

GUN was making the family grow apart. Piece by piece would they destroy every last bit of hope left in the Robotniks.

At least that’s what it seemed like.

 

Maria refused to give up hope. Once she realized that her grandfather had no power over Terios anymore, and that he was not coming back to their lab, she decided to take fate in her own hands and do what she could to see him again.

 

She tried to get information out of Charles, but what he did slip was not of much use. Charley disliked Terios, that was for sure. But even he didn’t get access to watch what was happening most of the time; he had to be begging intensely to do so, which he found to be very unmanly, so he didn’t do that.

 

Maria felt powerless. There had to be a way to have Terios return to the labs – he was meant to aid in finding a cure for her after all. He was made to be her friend, to help her get healthy and go home.

 

_ He was made to heal. _

 

What the girl didn’t know was that all that he did in the last few months was destroy.


	13. Purpose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS: MURDER, GORE, LOTS OF BLOOD, ABUSE
> 
>  
> 
> This is one of the most meaningful chapters to me, I hope you enjoy! (well as much as it is "enjoyable")
> 
> please check out the other fanfic me and a friend are working on: http://archiveofourown.org/series/914049

After carefully studying chaos energy through the chaos emerald and his old records of Terios’ use of it Gerald came to the conclusion that through the power of the chaos emeralds a force could be unleashed that could resemble laser cannons from science fiction stories.

 Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, Gerald had no experience in developing weapons whatsoever. He did absolutely not want to share his information with GUN, but he saw no other way. If he made another deal with them, he might be able to have Maria see Terios again.

A sinister plan brewed up in the old man's head, it was risky but it was all he could think of at the moment. His consciousness got increasingly clouded over time, but he didn’t want to admit to having a problem himself. Maria was all that mattered; and for her to have a chance in this world, he had to make sure it lasted.

 

Without further ado he convinced Commander Williams to allow him to cooperate with the GUN scientists that already had worked on finding the source and true potential of Terios’ powers, which were dubbed “Chaos Control”.

The control of the energy that pretty much made up the entire known universe, as the scientists expected. They were still unsure what could all be accomplished by manipulating that power, but it was very tempting to find out.

Professor Gerald was called to the GUN laboratories for the first few tests before Terios was allowed to return to the professor's lab; of course accompanied by the GUN researchers and his caretaker Ana. The hedgehog was just really glad to see his makers face again.

He noticed all the extra wrinkles on his face that had developed since their last meeting, and he could’ve sworn his mustache was even whiter than before.

Gerald was let in with the info that Terios was able to manipulate chaos energy at its core and materialize them in a form that very much resembled the plasma of lighting.

The old man was slightly terrified of his own creature for a moment as he received the information; Terios just sheepishly looking at him with his big crimson eyes – eyes that would’ve been deemed devilish, but Terios had always been kind and considerate. He was the opposite of a devil, right?

That’s what the professor tried to tell himself, at least, until he saw the security recording of the incident two months ago: Terios killed three officers in cold murder as his destructive powers manifested for the first time.

 

He was pleading for forgiveness and cried, but his mouth formed a weak smile. A sign of relief, the comfort of knowing these people could not hurt him anymore. The comfort of knowing he was above them.

Even when it was just faint and for a split second before his initial break down, it was there. It had messed with him, and it would mess with his innocent mind even more.

 

If what Gerald predicted was right, then Terios truly was the ultimate life form. A life form capable of either saving all life on earth from devastation - or capable of wiping it all out, effectively being the cause of it.

Or as Williams called him: The ultimate weapon.

 

The professor was forced to experiment on the hedgehogs destructive powers with the GUN scientists now, because exactly this power, so he thought, could be the solution to his problem. If he managed to understand how to recreate this power artificially, using the chaos emeralds of course, then they could destroy the black comet of the aliens before they invade earth.

Terios was confused about this turn of events. He was allowed back in the living quarters to see Maria for an hour a day and he was back to being examined in the professor’s lab instead of the GUN labs, but in literal months has no one taken his blood or even just mentioned the cure for Maria’s disease.

 

Terios and Maria’s reunion wasn’t as wonderful as they hoped. The hedgehog smiled at his sister, he was genuinely happy to see her well and Ana, who followed to keep watch on Terios, could’ve sworn this was the first time she saw this creature smile.

However, it soon disappeared when the girl asked about his training and how he had been, what things he’s been doing the past months. Terios didn’t even realize it, but he missed his own and Maria’s birthday with all the training. He was officially two years old and he didn’t even notice.

The hedgehog fell silent very soon and Maria looked at him very concerned and quickly went for a long and comforting hug. Terios couldn’t help but silently cry on her shoulder. Ana decided to break protocol and give the two some privacy, retreating from Maria’s room and leaving for a small walk, excusing her behaviour with a restroom break.

The ultimate crybaby couldn’t be honest with Maria, not yet, so he just kept weeping and clinging to his best friend for dear life, as if this was the last time he could see her. The girl in question just calmly stroked his back and laid her head on his.

“It’s okay, Terios.” she spoke calmly, “I bet they forced you not to talk about it, that definitely sounds like them - and you don’t have to say anything - I’m here for you whatever you decide to do, okay?”

The hedgehog sniffed and clinged a little tighter.

“Want to go out and look out the window? You probably haven’t done this in a while.”

He nod silently and let go to wipe his tears.

Maria got a few pillows and blankets to place in the hall in front of her room so they could sit on the metal floor comfortably. They sat there silently, Terios’ head gently resting on Marias side, the girl lovingly stroking him behind his left ear, which lead to him letting one or more content purrs escape.

 

Shortly before he had to leave again, Terios figured he should take his chance to speak up about one thing that had been bothering him for quite a while. No one was working on the cure anymore; but he couldn’t tell this to Maria just yet. She shouldn’t lose hope. Something so frail and easy to slip…

“Maria…” he began. “I just don’t know anything anymore.”

He stood up and removed himself from his friend, walking to the window until he gently touched the glass with one hand.

“I often wonder… Why was I created? What is my purpose for being here?” he took a deep breath. “Maybe if I go down there… I will find the answers.”

Maria was taken aback by the sudden seriousness of her small companion. What his purpose was? That was easy to answer…

“You were made to be a friend! To help people and make the world a better place, of course!” she smiled at him.

Make the world a better place? He turned to face her.

“The professor once told me… the reason for his existence is making people happy with the power of science.”

“Exactly! You are one of those powers of science that is meant to bring happiness to humanity. And if you ask me, this is a wonderful purpose.”

In this moment Ana came back, gesturing towards her wrist watch with a worrisome expression on her face.  
Terios hugged Maria one last time and turned to leave. He stopped shortly though and said: “I’ll come back. I promise I’ll see you again and we can talk freely. I… I.”

“I miss you too, Terios.” Maria was smiling, but it was a sad smile of parting pain, she was trying not to cry herself now - she had to stay strong for her little sibling. “Stay safe.”

“I will.” he lied.

With these words he and Ana returned to the laboratories.

 

* * *

 

It was a lie it was all a lie.

 

Terios was not allowed to see Maria again because of his poor performance in battle. He didn’t activate his true power yet. The commander wanted to see the lightning from his hands again, but Terios was terrified.

 

Weeks had passed once more until, with the help of the professor, Terios found a way to create the lighting again, even while wearing the restrainers. Soon he was set up to do target practise in order to learn to control his power.

This kind of attack was later dubbed the Chaos Spear, because Terios learned to form the lighting into a spear in his hands to be able to aim more accurately.

 

One faithful day, Terios had trained a lot already, everything was meant to change entirely.

Terios was getting increasingly frustrated about this training, the broken promises and the fact he was not allowed to fulfil his purpose that he and Maria had given himself. He threw a tantrum and eventually also a chaos spear at the command center, where of course Commander Williams was seated.

Instead of yelling he just faintly smirked and watched the hedgehog be angry. A security team entered the hall, ready to take the experiment down whenever it was going to get out of control.

And it did.

 

The piled up negative emotions got the better of him and all around Terios sparked energy; it wasn’t just his fingertips anymore, his entire body seemed to enter a static stage. The sparks were now died in deep crimson instead of the soft gold they normally were colored in.  
He clenched his fists and grit his teeth as security approached to throw him on the ground and secure him, bring him back to his solitary confinement cell that was made of the same material as his rings to prevent him from breaking out.

“Don’t… come any closer.” he warned. “I don’t know what’s happening with me.” his voice trembled.

More security, equipped with shields made of the chaos deflecting material, arrived in the hall and surrounded the weeping creature.

“Training is over, stop using your powers or we will have to use force.” one of them said. The commander watched the scene contently, but the professor couldn’t watch this anymore. He would calm shadow down on his own. Slowly but steadily he began his moderate walk downstairs to the training halls.

Suddenly the ARK began to shake and he heard a loud BOOM sound from the training hall. When he arrived it was already too late.

 

The door to the training hall was blown all the way to the next wall in the hallway, red liquid spilled on it. Coming closer to the actual entrance the professor held his breath. Blood dripped from the walls, as well as the hedgehogs quills. He sat on the ground hunching over, looking at his hands in horror, crying silently. 

The rings on his wrists were destroyed, some splinters were stuck in his arm and he was bleeding, but he was numb to the pain due to the shock. And what a shock it was.

 

The many soldiers approaching him stressed the hedgehog out so much he could not take it anymore and his entire pent up energy was released in a giant shockwave of chaos. A fatal blast that ripped even the material that was supposed to resist chaos to shreds; piercing the soldiers holding the shields and burning the unprotected soldiers alive, tearing them apart and decorating the walls with their guts and fluids.

“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry.” one could hear the miserable creature mumble.

“Thiswasn’tme.Ididn’tmeantodothis.Howcouldthishappen.Ireallydidn’twantthistohappen.Idontknowwhatjusthappened.” 

Commander Williams, against the will of the assistants holding him back, got up, after the blast had sent even him all the way up in the observatory fly against the wall and pierced with glass, and clapped slowly. He adjusted the mic that was attached to him and spoke excitedly.

“This power. The destruction. This creature is a living breathing bomb! Professor! This is wonderful. This creation is a gift to mankind.” he began. “You! Terios, or whatever!”

The hedgehog whimpered at those words. He still didn’t want to believe what just had happened. This was the second time they had… killed other people. And he received… praise for it.

This just couldn’t be right…

 

Terios slowly turned to face the commander and saw the shocked and collapsed professor in the corner of his eye. This was probably too much for the old man to handle.

“This was absolutely extraordinary! Do you think you can replicate this ability? Perfectionate it?”

All he could reply was a distressed whimper, he didn’t want this to be true.

“Terios, please think about it while you recover. Your purpose obviously lies in causing destruction. Just look at yourself, the power you possess! You are meant to cause the destruction of the enemy. The ultimate weapon that will settle the war and ensure peace. The ultimate weapon that will settle all and any wars. With you, the United Federation will be unstoppable!”

“My… Purpose?” the creature whispered to himself.

He was meant to bring hope and happiness to the humans.  
Sure, peace meant happiness among everyone and a life without sorrow, but was this really how peace was established. Was this the right way to ensure everyone was happy? If he killed half of the people involved, then it is not everyone that turns out happy, it is just the people whose side he was made to fight for.

He started to feel somewhat dizzy and stumbled back, only to trip over something and fall back on his butt. Putting a hand to his head and squeezing his eyes close for a moment he stood up again to look at what in the world he tripped over, realizing it was a lone arm without body.

Breathing heavily he looked around him and noticed the gruesome massacre he had created in this room and got sick to the stomach, vomiting on the spot and beginning to cry again. Blood and vomit on their hands they did not want to rub their eyes so they just kept crying silently, wishing they could disappear into nothingness.

 

_**Wishing they had never been made.** _

 

This very moment Charley came bursting through the door into the observatory. “Father, I heard a loud bang and we just had to know what happened!” 

“Charles? Leave at once! I’ll explain to you soon.” but Charley insisted and came even closer. Close enough to catch a glimpse of Terios. “Get these kids out of here!” The commander seemed distressed.

“These kids.” Terios laughed to himself in defeat. So Maria saw it, too. She saw the monster he had become. The absolutely disgusting monster that she had just so happily cuddled last time they saw eachother. 

Terios’ miserable laugh echoed through the hall all the way into the observatory, giving the boy a potential wrong image of the situation; enforcing his idea of Terios being nothing but a creature driven by instincts, too dangerous for Maria, and merely a crazy experiment. This bloodthirsty monster… It probably enjoyed killing all those soldiers.

Maria, much as her grandfather, collapsed at the stress of this experience. She couldn’t see much, but she saw the glass wall being broken, the commander having glass splinters in some parts of his body, bleeding. The excessive reek of blood. It was just too much for her to handle.

 

The entire space colony was driven into panic. Everyone involved needed a break to recover from this incident, more than those who did not know of the existence of the ultimate life form, who was now locked up in the cell made of the material of his former rings. The walls were doubled, just to be sure, because one layer alone was most certainly not enough to hold him up anymore.

  
This was the most tragic incident that occured on the ARK yet, _and it was not the last_.


	14. Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen to the song "curse of the virgin canvas" by alesana for full effect ^o^ at laest if you can handle a little screamo
> 
> i ran out of backups and i have a massive writers block but I hope I can whip something up until next month ;-;
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING for abuse, blood and murder again

 

Terios had not been let out of “his room” for a few days, because the traumatized creature kept sending out shock waves at random times, unable to control them. He tried to pull out all the splinters from his wrists by himself, since no one dared to get close to him.    
The big pieces left visible scars on them, which made Terios grow increasingly concerned about all the other wounds he endured in the past. He’s always been too scared to touch them, sometimes experiencing phantom pains because he himself often couldn’t comprehend just how fast he healed.

In his time of solitude and immense pain he thought a lot about what Maria said about his purpose. The more time passed, the more he found out about the godforsaken creature he was, he just couldn't believe it was true anymore. How was a monster like him supposed to bring peace and happiness? What if they couldn’t fix him? What if they didn’t even attempt to fix him - but instead use his powers for weapons and forced him to become even more destructive. 

And… was it all that bad if what the Commander said was right?

If he couldn’t fulfill the purpose of bringing peace through “the power of science”, if he was not useful in finding a cure anymore… Maybe as indestructible weapon he was of any use at all, at least. It’s not like there was anything else he was good for than destroying fighting robots and helping the scientists in improving those. 

He just didn’t want to be useless. There was no other place for an anomaly like him on this colony. If he did what they told him to, maybe he was going to be set free in the future. And… maybe there were others like him on earth. Other “mobians” as the people on ARK called him. 

 

Suddenly the door to his cell opened. It was the professor, who finally had recovered from the incident and had thought of some reasons, and also solutions, to the problem at hand.

“Terios, my boy…” he started, trying not to sound scared; trying to sound reassuring and offering comfort.

“D-don’t get close to me, professor! I don’t want to hurt you!” Terios crawled backwards against the wall, the cold metal on his skin making him flinch and let out a small shock wave.

Gerald quickly closed the door to protect himself, but soon stepped back in. “You need to calm down, process what happened and feel better. That will probably make you less prone to exploding.” he stroked his beard in anticipation. The old man knew he was telling the truth, but he also knew Terios would not get much time to calm down, because once he did GUN would insist on doing experiments again. 

The hedgehog clenched his fists, he had practiced to hold it in for a while now. He could probably do it… if it meant seeing Maria again, he would endure it. Perhaps her loving and comforting presence would ultimately calm him down. He would never forgive himself for hurting her, though.

 

Holding Geralds hand for comfort they walked to the old laboratories. Even though the memories from this place weren’t exactly the fondest, Terios wasn’t as tense anymore and showed first signs of comfort sinking in. He wondered when he could see Maria, but didn’t dare to ask now because he feared slipping up and getting back to be imprisoned in the small cell from before.

The professor lead Terios into a very familiar room, in which he was tested on his chaos abilities before, swallowing repeatedly, but his throat remained dry in regret. It pained him to have to do this to his creation, but he did not see any other way out.

Confused and scared Terios looked at the old man that let go of his hand and made his way back to the door. 

“I’m sorry, Terios.” he tried to say but he couldn’t bring out much of a sound. The heavy doors closed shut.

Terios bursted against the door in confusion. “Professor! What is the meaning of this!? You- you tricked me!?”

“No, 'Terios’. This is exactly what I wanted.” Terios trembled at the voice that came from the speakers. It was Williams. What had he planned to do to him this time?

This sudden change of events… Terios could feel himself lose control. He felt the urge to smash the walls, to find wherever the commander was hiding and punch him in his ugly face. However he didn't want to risk the possibility of Maria or Gerald being punished for his actions, so he resorted to complying - for now. The only reason he didn't fight back was that he cared about his family more than himself.

The thought of Maria briefly calmed him down but Williams teared his peace down once more. “You probably want to tear mountains apart; I understand that. You have so much power… what use is in possessing those if you don't use them?”

 

Of course the commander’s words were of selfish nature. He wanted nothing more than a powerful weapon at his disposal; and he assumed Terios to be a mere animalistic creature. It was no surprise, though. GUN was not let in the original information on Terios, they probably didn't care to understand what his name meant at all.

 

Terios. 

A reflection. 

The Reflection of a God.

The God of Destruction.

 

The professor himself didn't know this fact. He should probably have guessed after the artificial chaos went amok, but he wholeheartedly believed that the creature he created in Terios was inherently good. A bringer of hope, peace and health.

 

But man was Terios a creature of destruction. Williams ordered to let the strongest prototypes of their weapons let loose on the hedgehog, some managed to wound him, but eventually they were all obliterated by a Chaos Blast or a Chaos Spear. Terios' wrists were burning in pain because he still had splinters of his old rings in them, but he enjoyed the freedom to exercise, even if it was a disgusting massacre - at least he didn't kill anyone this time. If he was completely honest, he would have said this was fun. Tearing down those stupid machines that these pathetic humans created in order to be as destructive as him. Truly laughable.

Suddenly the expression in Terios’ face changed. It didn't show disgust, but rather a glimpse of joy. 

It was no use being depressed over his whole situation, right? It's not like he had a choice, not if Maria was on the line. There was nothing bad in enjoying this. This is what he was meant to do, somehow, as his wrists ached in pain and his fingertips tingled with energy, somehow he felt like this was what he was meant to be.

What the hedgehog didn't know was that in some of those mechs were human pilots which were killed upon the brutal destruction of their vehicle. He didn't notice the red fluids dripping from the debris - but someone else did.

Maria had shoved herself past the various spectators behind the mirrored glass. 

_ A mirror never lies _ .

“Enough!” She yelled. “Terios, wake up!”

_ They know. _

Terios’ ears twitched at her voice.

_ Everybody knows. _

“Stop this at once! Get the girl away from here!”

_ Can't you see what they see? _

“Terios this isn't you! I don't know what they did to you but you're not a monster! Please!”

_ I see what they see. _

Terios Was confused. He… he had disappointed Maria of all people. She saw him as a monster. And looking into the mirrored glass…. He saw it too.

Pupils sharp as razors, his blood red eyes were glowing ominously, his claws were extended to the maximum. He was breathing heavily and growled with every exhale.

_ Everybody knows.  _

Frustrated he put his hands to his head and clawed himself, screaming in agony, unleashed one final chaos blast, so strong and powerful that he passed out as the walls cracked.

 

_ Everybody knows _ .  
  


* * *

 

 

“Ugh.” 

Terios head hurt as if he had been hit all over, repeatedly, for days at a time.

“Grandfather! He’s waking up!” Maria exclaimed excitedly as she rushed to the hedgehog’s side.

“Maria?” He brought out in a weak raspy voice. 

His wrists weren't stinging anymore, the professor must have removed the splinters.

Still a little dizzy he tried to sit up properly and held one hand to his head as it pounded once more. Through the corner of his eyes he saw that he was now wearing white gloves with new golden rings on them. The buckle was a neat match to his shoes which now also hosted golden rings at his ankles.

“Maria what… is this?” He groaned one last time before the addressed girl gave him something to drink. 

“Grandfather made new inhibitor rings for you. They should stop you from turning into… whatever that was. GUN did something terrible to you… Are you okay?” Maria gently laid her hand on his in an attempt to comfort him.

That was true. GUN did something to him, they messed with his head, they convinced him to throw away every principle he learned from the Robotniks. He couldn't allow this to happen again. Chaos wouldn't get the better of him, he would stay his true self and confront the commander. At least when the time was right.

The professor stepped forward. “I'm sorry if you felt betrayed, Terios. I had no choice. There are things about my past, about your past, that you probably deserve to know…”

Gerald wasn't sure if he could reveal the alien DNA yet. Maria was present… And this room was probably under surveillance for all he knew.

Terios looked at the professor with wide eyes. What had he kept hidden from him all this time? Could he really be trusted after all?

 

“Terios, my child.” He started off. “You were made after the image of an immensely powerful God. A God so powerful that he could bring the end of another. I always assumed the scriptures to talk of the power of Chaos to be of positive and healing nature, but I was very wrong. Your name, Terios, is a homage to you being the living reflection of this very God.” He looked away. “My miscalculations and naivety have made you the creature you are now. Can you forgive me?”

“So… I am… nothing but the reflection… of a God?” Terios was confused, his head was pounding again. “A copy? A… Faker?”

“You are so much more! You are  **you** ! Tell him, grandfather!” Maria protested. She genuinely believed in Terios. She knew he would one day be a symbol of hope for the world.

This moment, an idea was planted in the hedgehogs mind.

“I accept under one circumstance.” He suddenly said.

“Anything.” The professor stroked his moustache in surprise.

“I want to chose my own name. My own destiny.”

Maria and the professor looked at eachother and it was quickly established what they thought about this idea.

“Go right on ahead.” They said in unison.

“I know this might sound weird because GUN chose this name for their insane experiments on me.” He took a deep breath. “But I feel like the name Shadow reflects  _ myself _ better, than Terios.”

“I understand.” The professor nod encouraging, waiting if he was going to elaborate on his decision.

“You see… Shadows are ever present. Where there is light, there are Shadows. Darkness isn't as bad as we make it be. My fur is black, so i blend better with Shadows, that's just a fact. We are literally surrounded by darkness; the natural state of the universe is darkness. People fear it, and its intimidating; but you sure as hell can't get rid of it. No one can escape their Shadow. No one can destroy a Shadow.”

“...”

“This is who I am, I think.”

Maria took both of Shadow’s hands and looked at him with the brightest smile on her face; brighter than the sun itself. 

“If you say so, Shadow the hedgehog, then so be it. 

_ Lead us to the light. _ ”


	15. Fragile Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait I have an extra long chapter for yall now ^o^
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: gore and death/murder

Several months later, Shadow had been training with GUN again. He decided to play along with their game in order to perfect his powers and strike back.

The people that manipulated his body, his mind… the ones who betrayed his trust. They would not get away with this. No way in hell they would.

 

Maria’s  condition could worsen anytime, but they didn't care about her at all. She was the kindest soul the planet earth had ever seen and sometimes Shadow felt like maybe, if the other humans are like GUN, they didn't deserve her.

Maria urged, though, that not everyone on earth was like them. She genuinely believed that humans were good, that their compassion is greater than hatred; even if the current war was not convincing of this statement.

 

Shadow would train every day to get stronger and learn to control his powers. Become more precise in his attacks. To knock out, but not to kill.

He learned to concentrate on a very certain line within chaos and move along on it, almost reaching the speed of light. 

 

GUN called it teleportation, but Shadow knew he couldn’t phase through walls like this. Everything he learned about the laws of physics was fundamentally against many things that didn't seem too far fetched for his powers. Sometimes Shadow even scared himself with them.

In the end he was just glad that the outbursts stopped and the new inhibitor rings were good at doing their job of limiting his use of chaos to the bare minimum needed to perform a desired task, giving back excess energy to his body. Additionally, the new gloves relieved him of a lot of stress he experienced from alienation and sensitivity. 

 

It was obvious he was alien to the humans, and there was no way he could be anything like them. He was furry and small, he has a tail and his ears and nose were totally different. And yet… he had hands and feet, he could walk like them and talk. He had a sentient mind, he was capable of everything they were capable of. Of course he was a little different, but didn't he also belong?

 

The gloves hid away all his features that pointed to him being strange: The pads on his hands and his claws. 

His shoes hid the truth about his feet, that he only had four toes as opposed to humans having five.

 

Shadow kept holding on to Maria’s words; that humans weren't inherently evil, that there is good in everyone and everything.

He wanted to believe it and hoped that the only rotten soul here was the commander, who had everyone else under his control.

 

* * *

 

 

One fateful day at training the commander seemed more frustrated and stressed than usual, even kind of nervous.

 

It wasn't hard to notice that Williams was taking all his frustration out on Shadow once more, pushing the ultimate life form way beyond his limits in hope to unleash new and unimaginable powers. But this day not even that mattered, Williams did not care about the progress, but rather about the destructive chaos at the very moment. 

He’d gotten a warning from HQ recently and was asked to send honest reports. The absolute commander of the earth fraction of GUN threatened Williams to send troops to the ARK and investigate on their own, taking away all his rights to the project.

 

Of course he did not want this to happen, so he needed data of Shadow’s destructive power to send down and pretend he is a mere inanimate weapon. A simple object that can be used until its battery is drained, then recharged and back in use again.

Whilst holding a chaos emerald, he is even charging while using his power. 

 

The commanders advisors spoke to him carefully, hiding behind papers and cautiously staying a few steps afar before addressing the matter.

 

“We are trying our very best to construct encrypted reports but there simply isn't enough useful data for the pretend weapon. All our own tech  which had been and will probably be, completely obliterated by this creature, have entirely different energy signatures and attack patterns. Additionally, most scientists up here are biologists and it had made Headquarters feel iffy.” 

The sheepish slender man ducked in fear as Williams stared him down, eyes angrily piercing his own, demanding him to get to the point. 

“It's just that me, and others mind you, believe that it will not take long for them to get wind of what is actually going on here. And because of your dishonestly towards them they will likely not trust anyone in here and believe of a conspiracy or something and-”

 

Williams got up off his seat. Expression blank, posture straight. It was impossible to read his real mood, but one could guess how he felt.

 

At this point Shadow was already done defeating all robots, all and any pilots unharmed, as he finally gained full control over his powers, and intently watched the scene on the other side of the glass. While barking commands at him, the commander had forgotten to turn off the speakers that ran through to the arena. His voice echoing through the giant hall.

 

“And so what if they do? We have the most powerful weapon in the world in our possession. What are they going to do? They will thank us for keeping it a secret from the world.” 

The commander had a crooked smile on his lips. 

“Besides… This is MY space station. I can do what I want. This isn't earth… they have no power over me.”

 

The advisor, as well as Shadow, were too overwhelmed by the extremely tense aura of the commander. They didn't move or speak, or even breathe, for a minute, trying to collect themselves. 

 

“Only two or three more experiments until we can be sure to let Shadow loose on the battlefield, to let loose the monster that he is to heed his natural callings. It'se to end this war. It's about time a hero appears on the field. And that hero will be me.”

 

As mech pilots gained their consciousness and crawled out of the debris, Shadow could just stand and stare. He forgot to breathe, he forgot that he existed for a moment. He refused to believe this was real.

 

“Shadow!” 

Williams voice echoes through the halls like a knife in the chest that had laid in a fire beforehand. 

“Break time. Report back in the afternoon I have a special test for you later.”

 

Shadow still stood rooted to the ground. He would be sent down soon… There was no way he was going to kill anyone once he was down on earth, he would flee and look for help- 

But what if the humans didn't trust him, if they thought he was strange, or worst: what if they thought of him as a monster like the GUN scientists do, feel threatened by him and… resort to attacking him instead?

 

No. He didn't want to think about that. He had to leave now and talk to Maria, and fast. 

He hurried out of the training hall and towards the living quarters, trying his hardest to block out the commander's words.

 

* * *

 

 

“Shadow!” 

Marias words echoed through Shadow’s mind like a beautiful spring morning with a warm, gentle sun over beautiful blue flowers. 

“I'm so glad to see you!”

 

“Me too…” Shadow brought out with a sigh of relief. He immediately approached her for a long needed and well deserved hug. Her hands were warm and she didn't look as pale as she usually did.

 

“Grandfather's friends started a new treatment using the knowledge about your powers, Shadow! They said my condition is improving rapidly! Isn't that great? We can go home soon!” She clapped her hands excitedly.

 

“About that…” Shadow nervously brushed his quills with his hands. “The commander said that I would be sent to earth soon. Under their horrible conditions of course.”

 

Maria looked at him with her big curious eyes, that were so blue that it looked like they held earth itself in each of them. She nod and slightly tilted her head to show Shadow could go on.

 

“Maybe… I can wait for you! Wherever it is, I’ll find the place and wait for you! I refuse to obey them any longer.”

 

Maria thought for a moment and then hurried out of bed towards her desk. She wrote something down on a piece of paper and gave it to Shadow.

 

“Don't lose this. It's the address if our summer house. If I come back to earth  this is the first place I want to visit.”

 

Shadow looked at the words on the paper. 

“How do I know where to go?”

 

“The first row is the family name. The second row tells you the street and number of the house in that street. The number below is the postal code, it tells you in what geographical region this address is located in. Lastly is the City name. Oh and of course on the bottom is what country you have to go to.” 

 

Shadow nod. He didn't understand the planetary geography yet, but he was sure he could rely on the help of locals.

 

“This is so exciting to think about! I’ll have to show you all my favourite places! There's a stream nearby with little fish, and also a farm with lots of different animals! Me and father had planned to build a treehouse but… well we can do that now! The garden is huge so we can plant lots and lots of flowers and…”

 

Maria went on and on and on about all the things she wanted to do with Shadow at their summer house. Shadow didn't even listen anymore, he was just so happy to see Maria so full of life and joy. She wasn't the sick little girl anymore, that lied in bed all day and had trouble to even sit up sometimes. 

No. 

 

She was alive.

 

* * *

 

 

The special training this afternoon was precision and target testing, not so special at all. The targets were harder to destroy but… it was so… easy. 

 

Too easy.

 

Shadow couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. So very wrong. 

He couldn't put it into words, nor could he really explain this uneasy feeling to himself, but something big was going to happen and it was boiling inside him.

 

The next two days Shadow was granted time to relax and spend time with Maria and the other scientists.

He didn't complain, as this turn of events was very much in his favour. And, just as Williams planned, he forgot about his bad feeling, even the fact he was going down to earth once the next training was done, and genuinely enjoyed his free time.

 

Out of boredom and habit, though, Shadow ended up training some aspects of his powers on his own. Techniques that he deemed too dangerous for GUN to know about.

A maximized and bigger version of the Chaos Spears, lightspeed warping and lastly controlling the pure form of chaos when removing his limiters.

 

Once the rings on his wrists were removed, he immediately felt the immense rush of power overcoming him. All the while wearing those he didn't notice just how much energy his body had stored.

That must've been the reason he healed so quickly in combat and was able to go so long without sleep.

 

But for tonight Shadow wanted peaceful rest in Maria's arms. Something they both hadn't done in literal years at this point.

 

Shadow lost count of the days that had passed since he was made GUN’s property, but Maria told him he missed a few birthdays. Thinking of it, Maria did grow quite a bit and, apart from the fact that she overall became healthier, looked more mature. Her hugs were firmer, but in a gentle way.

 

This night Shadow had a dream about a carefree day at the Robotnik’s summer house. He braided flowers into Maria's hair while she told all kinds of stories about her childhood in this place.

 

Even when he was unaware of it, Shadows face held the brightest smile on his face all night long.

 

* * *

 

 

Shadow and Maria were ripped out of their dreams the next morning. Someone infiltrated Maria's room and violently shook Shadow awake. 

 

“Hurry up! They are coming! I heard about the plan; it’s insane you need to leave!”

Shadow blinked open his eyes and secured the arms that held him. 

It was Ana.

“Please, we don't have time!” she pleaded.

 

Shadow looked at Maria in confusion, she only gave a tried but concerned look back. 

 

“Alright I’ll investigate this. Go back to sleep, Maria.” Shadow hastily pressed his forehead onto hers and then left with Ana.

 

She hurried along the outer ring of the ARK towards the escape pods. She frantically entered the security code to open the doors without sounding the alarm.

 

“Wait, you want us to leave the colony? What's the matter, Ana?” Shadow tugged on her arm as far as he could reach and tried to hold her back from completing the code.

 

“The military, the soldiers… all those innocent people… Sir Williams has gone totally _loco!_ It's not safe anymore, you need to leave.”

 

“I can defend myself.”

 

“Not unsafe for you, Shadow.”  Ana spoke under her breath, as if she didn't want to speak this out loud, “Unsafe for everyone else here, because of you. Because of what they are going to do to you.”

 

Shadow stared at her with wide eyes as she finished entering the code and dragged him to the escape room. While still standing in the doorway the GUN soldiers finally caught up with them.

 

“Hand over the experiment.” They stated coldly.

 

Ana opened the capsule and called out: “Now, Shadow! This is the only chance to leave! Come!”

 

But Shadow stood rooted in the doorway. Everyone will be in danger because of him? What does the commander want to do to him that he would endanger the whole colony? The only way the commander could have any control over him was if… No! Maria was the only one in danger! He couldn't leave Maria behind. Not like this.

 

Shadow stepped away from the door towards the soldiers.

“Lo siento, Ana, pero tengo que proteger a Maria.” 

With this the door closed shut again and couldn't be opened without sounding the alarm.

 

Ana understood Shadow’s feelings, but it was too dangerous. What should she do now? She didn't have any power, she was not in position to go back and oppose anyone, for being a mere child caretaker… 

 

That moment she realized where she was. She could escape. Go back to earth… She could tell the HQ about what's  _ really _ going on here. Maybe she could make a change in time.

 

With this she shut herself in the capsule and released it. She prayed to God to make it out alive for Shadows sake, for Maria’s sake, for the sake of all mankind.

 

Shadow was brought back to Maria and told to forget everything she said and get some more rest because Williams wanted to see him later.

 

Once the soldiers found out that Ana left and what thread that meant they immediately reported to Williams. 

He was absolutely not happy about this, but he quickly collected himself in the fact Shadow was now ready for the final test.

 

* * *

 

 

Once Shadow entered the big hall Williams began his usual derogatory monologues.

“You can go after your pathetic caretaker soon, if you so desire, Shadow… As soon as you end this war, you and I will be heroes, do you understand that? We will be able to do and get anything we want.”

 

“Not like you act like you already can, right now.” Shadow muttered back.

 

Williams ignored the comment and the soldiers that accompanied Shadow left the hall. With a wave of gis hand the big gates opened. Instead of heavy fighting mechs, though, out stepped weak and confused people that Shadow had never seen before.

 

“I don't care what you do, but make sure not to hold back. This is a war simulation. I brought you over a hundred people that no one misses or cares about. You can do whatever you want to them, as long as they end up on the ground unmovable.” 

 

Williams was seated in the ground floor observatory ever since Shadow destroyed the overhead one. This one was a one way mirror/window. It was unsettling to hear his voice, but being unable to see him.

 

Behind the mass of people that was swept in the hall, mechs entered and locked onto the hedgehog.

 

“Oh right… You need to finish everyone off, while being targeted and having to defend yourself. To make it all more interesting let's say there's a time limit of say… Can you handle 30 seconds?”

 

Shadow grit his teeth. “That's 29 seconds too much.”

 

Before Williams could say anything else Shadow had removed his rings and unleashed a shockwave that paralyzed everyone who was alive in place, but destroyed anything mechanical in the room.

 

He made a light fist to hold the people in place, this technique would fail as soon as he released his grip.

 

“Anything else, Commander?” He turned towards the mirror and stared at the commander behind it. He couldn't see him, but he imagined his ugly face to be right there and fought every urge to punch it right now.

 

A slow clapping could be heard. The civilians whimpered in fear as Shadow accidentally tightened his grip on them for a second as he flinched at the sound.

 

“That sure is a remarkable technique, Shadow.” 

He folded his legs and leaned back into his chair. 

“But now… give yourself and the professor a little more credit. Why are you holding back so desperately? Why are you working so hard to repress your true self? You are meant for so much more, so do yourself a favour and...”

 

These words reminded Shadow of the conversation he overheard the other day: In Williams eyes he was nothing more but a Monster that he could toy around with.

Was that what Ana meant? That Williams wanted him to kill a bunch of innocent people? 

He was a fool if he thought he could make Shadow lose control like this ever again. The hedgehog tried so hard to repress those memories of the massacre that the awakening of his powers brought. They were far away, like a distant and hazy bad dream.

 

“Kill them.”

 

He commander was such a pathetic human insect. If Shadow didn't comply, he would probably start threatening using poor Maria's life. It was inexcusable, mostly now that she was seemingly feeling better.

 

“Commander.”

Shadow spoke in a low tone.

 

The commander watched in anticipation.

 

“You want the Monster?” He opened his hands to release the hostages and clenched his fists.

 

Williams didn't know what he just summoned, and at the same time this was exactly what he wanted.

 

Shadows hands sparked with energy and the next moment he had shattered the glass and restrained the commander. The alarm started sounding but all the four soldiers surrounding were too scared to do anything.

“You want the Monster?” He repeated, now yelling.

 

The commander stared at him with wide eyes. He reeked of fear but… then he opened his mouth.

“So you admit it, eh? I was right the whole time. You were made to kill… you are the perfect weapon. Put it to good use, will you?”

 

Shadow was enraged, his blood red eyes glowing with murderous intent. His left arm holding a speer of pure chaos. He didn't want to play into Williams words, but… he deserved death. He out of all people deserved to die. 

 

He slammed the spear in his shoulder, breathing heavily and letting out one or another growl. He tried so hard to not fall for this temptation. He could not bare to be a murderer once more, there had to be another way... Right, Maria?

 

But Williams spat in his face. “I’ve already secured my Legacy. Even if I don't end up on the top, this will be worth it. I have nothing to lose, so just do it already, before I change my mind.”

 

One of the soldiers shakily held a gun to the back of Shadow’s head. “This is insane. This is absolutely insane! I can't take this anymore!”

 

Another soldier ran out of the room. He hurried to the central control room to report Shadows existence to HQ, how he is too dangerous for anyone to control. The doors were closed shut, though, so he took a detour to the communication hub at the cargo station. Everyone on this station was crazy. The commander who controlled the experiments, the people that followed without question... and the professor that created this monstrosity. Each and everyone one of them belonged behind bars.

 

Shadow let the spear disappear and slowly lowered his hands, letting go of the Commander.

"It's okay." Shadow tried to sound calm, but he couldn't control the growl in his voice. "It's going to be okay. Don't do anything stupid now, alright? Lower the gun and we can talk about this." 

Without looking behind him Shadow slowly reached for the gun.

 

“Don't pull any pranks now!” The soldier feared for his life and shot.

 

Shadow had to stabilize his position by holding onto the commander. His blood running down his back ran cold and he was disgusted with himself. He stepped off the body to face the soldier and take away his weapon, but the fact that Shadow was still moving after being shot in the head scared the soldier so much he shot him 3 more times into his back, hoping to shoot through his heart.

 

What the soldier didn't realize was that not all bullets hit the hedgehog, but the body below, effectively killing Williams.

 

The last soldier ran out of the room to report on what his colleague did.

 

Blood dripped from Shadow's head, back and chest. His vision blurred and he tasted a very metallic fluid in his mouth. Was this what blood tasted like?

He looked down at his wrists that started hurting immensely and noticed that his veins were glowing golden. He clenched the hole in his chest that was spilling blood all over Williams' corpse.

This was what dying felt like...? 

No... 

This pain...

 

“Idiot.” Shadow muttered as he slowly lost consciousness and fell over on the floor. 

 

The last thing he heard were the hysterical screams of Charley who just came bursting through the door.

 


	16. Maria's Wish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a sudden writing burst so here's another one jkxjdhgdskj
> 
> the next one will be either super long or split in two idk yet but we have obviously reached almost the end.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: major character death

Gerald had been working hard on his ultimate weapon in the meantime. It was very useful to him that nobody bothered to check on him anymore ever since GUN took total control over Shadow. He knew that his creation would one day return to him, so he tried to pay this no mind and devote himself to the creation of the eclipse canon.

 

Since he was also the person to have designed the space colony, he knew where to work without disturbances. His old self was not capable to do the construction work, but he was able to convince a bunch of soldiers to do this part for him.

At this rate, the canon would be completed in one or two days. There was no way to test it out before it's initial use in approximately 50 years, but he had faith in his work.

 

It was all his fault to begin with, so he had to make it right. Even when somehow Shadow was the key to healing Maria, and she really was going to be completely healthy now… it was a high price he paid; and he was not willing to accept it.

 

To make sure Shadow would understand, he had to make a  recording to remind Shadow of what he had to do.

 

“If you are listening to this then the worst has happened… You need to know the truth. The government plans to cease all of my research and… imprison all who know about you. I made a terrible mistake, Shadow. It’s all my fault… making contact with that comet.”

He took a deep breath.

“Now listen very carefully: In about 50 years the comet will return and they plan to harness its powers to destroy the planet as we know it! The only way to stop them was to develop a way to use their very power they intended to use against them.”

He leaned closer to the camera.

“Shadow it’s up to  _ you _ , and  _ only you _ can stop them. I developed the Eclipse Canon… it’s the only weapon capable of destroying the Black Comet. You are the only hope… to save mankind as we know it. The future of this planet…”

With this the door opened.

“Depends on you.” he finished as he looked to his side.

 

Maria clinged to his arm.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Grandfather… But don’t worry! Shadow and I will protect the planet!”

She turned to the camera with a bright smile on her entire face.

“Right, Shadow?”

 

Gerald stopped the recording.

“Maria, what are you doing here?”

He attempted an authoritative frown, but his face couldn't help but rariate worry.

 

“I was bored… and lonely.” She looked over to the tank in the monitor that a black humanoid hedgehog was floating in. “Do you think he will regain consciousness soon? It won't be long until GUN gets here. The  _ real _ GUN.”

 

Gerald looked at his creation helplessly. Shadow was floating in his tank full of nutritious fluids, cables digging into his body at all ends and a bulky mask aiding his breath. 

His wounds that he sustained should be healed by now, he was just still recovering from the exhaustion the immense amount of healing he had to go through.

It shouldn't go unnoticed that Shadow had died twice that day and recovered almost immediately.

 

Charley was quickly confiscated and under very strict care. He had not spoken a word since the incident and just stared into nothingness with a blank face. He would never forget the image of the bloody monster leaning over his father's corpse. Never.

 

Maria clinged to Gerald's coat.

“I'm scared.” She muttered. “What are they going to do with him? Can't we just run away? Do we have to comply?”

 

Gerald gently stroked her golden hair. 

“I'm afraid I can't answer your questions… but rest assured that I have great plans for Shadow and that I place great faith into him for the future of this planet; no matter what happens.”

 

“You mean that video you were recording earlier? Was it a reminder for Shadow?” Maria tapped at the bulky camera in front of them, while Gerald made a worried step forward as if it was to fall down at any second.

 

“Yes, something like that.” he quickly fixed his posture and cracked his back in the process. His age really began showing.

 

Maria clapped her hands together excitedly. “Can I make one, too?”

 

Gerald thought for a bit and then walked to the back of his lab where he had piled up a… collection of various items. He handed Maria an analog film camera with integrated microphone. It was smaller and for one use only. 

 

“Make it worth.” He smiled at her tiredly. With this Maria left the laboratories with happy jumping steps. She was as alive as she was as a little child, not that even at 15 she wasn't a child anymore, but he looked so… healthy. Shadow might really be the key.

 

This moment the black hedgehog opened his eyes. It stinged so he shut them close tight again. He tried rubbing them but was held back by all the cables and infusions hanging onto him.

He forced his eyes open to oversee the situation. His vision was still blurred and vaguely distorted (or was it the fluid?) but he noticed a slight change in lighting in the room he was in. 

 

He stared at the appliances on his arms and promptly ripped them off. As he took a deep breath he noticed the mask attached to his face and clawed at the foreign object.

 

Suddenly he felt the fluid being drained from the tank he trapped inside of and found himself in a dark small room. As the hatch opened and he stumbled out, an old and familiar voice greeted him.

 

“Shadow… I am glad to have you back.” Gerald's voice soothed the black hedgehog. As he glanced up he saw a communication monitor in a corner if the room.

 

He slowly walked along the wall  to a chair and sat down. He tried to remember why he was here but all he recalled was… no… that horrible memory it…

 

“You've been out for two days.” Gerald started off. “Maria though we lost you, but I knew you just needed some time.”

 

Gerald pointed to the side and  Shadow found his gloves and shoes. The hedgehog gratefully put them on.

 

“Time that we might not have had, so I made sure to hurry up your healing process.”

 

Shadow looked at Gerald with guilt.

“Did I really…?”

 

“I don't know what happened, but I do know that the entire facility is on lock down and you were locked away for being “dangerous”. I insisted in aiding for your genesis.” The old man nervously poked at his moustache.

 

“What else happened? Or better… what is going to happen?”

Shadow looked to his feet. He felt so incredibly guilty, but at the same time he felt powerful and determined that this was the right thing to do. The right step ahead to save Maria.

 

“They are sending an elite troop of soldiers to arrest each and everyone of us. But I cannot tell what they are planning to do to you.” the old man spoke hastily, as if this could happen at any second now. 

 

“I won't let them lay a hand on Maria. I promise.” Shadow stood up shakily but full of determination.

 

“You can't escape this prison, it's blocking your powers!” Gerald yelped.

 

“We’ll see about that.” Shadow smirked at the challenge and gave it his all. He concentrated on a spot outside of that door and the flow of chaos through it. 

GUN called it teleportation, but that wasn't quite it, was it? Concentrating on a single place in space at the very present time.

He folded time and space to his own wishes and transported his body from one place to the other, using the chaos energy as a means to travel along on.

In a flash of light Shadow had disappeared from the security tape.

 

He fried security sensors to stay undetected and worked his way to the dormitories with wobbly short ranged teleportations, occasionally taking out soldiers that called out and chased after him. Maria was his first and foremost priority.

 

He wasn't far from the living quarters when a message was relayed through the stations speakers: “All citizens of the Space Colony ARK have to report to cargo bay and hand themselves over to authority without fail. Ignorance of this order will result in harsh measures. Thank you for your cooperation.”

It was repeated, over and over.

 

This must've been what Gerald was talking about, they were taking everyone away to… where ever - and who knew what they were going to do to the innocent Maria!

 

Maria had just finished turning her video for Shadow when the speakers started blaring this message and the lighting changed from a soothing yellow to a singing red. 

She turned off the camera and laid down the film on the table to write down a label on its side. She didn’t get to do that, though because in this moment Shadow magically appeared in her room.

 

“Maria!” he called out gasping for air and half breaking down from the excessive use of his powers this shortly after having recovered from  _ literal death _ .

 

“Shadow, you’re awake!” She prepped him up quickly. “What’s the matter!? What’s going on?”

 

“I was hoping you’d know more than me…” he murmured as he swallowed back the pain in his chest. “All I know is that GUN sent men to capture all of us.”

 

He thought for a bit while Maria started mumbling something with a worried expression. Everything was a blue to him, but Shadow knew he couldn’t rest if he wanted to protect Maria. This was when he remembered what Ana did. She ran to the escape rooms with the emergency capsules! This was their way out!

 

“Maria, I’m going to have to ask you to do something risky… and possibly stupid.” he started as he adjusted his grip on her hand to be more comfortable and started leading her out of the room, leaving her letter and film behind.

 

“Shadow wait, there was still something-” she protested but Shadow was pulling on her arm, urging her to step up the pace.

 

“We don’t have time for this, Maria! We need to leave! We can come back and get your things later.”

 

“What about Grandfather?” now she was the one tightening her grip on his hand. The concern in her voice could not be unheard.

 

“I-I don’t know. I spoke to him before all this started, he was in his lab.” Shadow came to a halt as Maria yanked on his arm.

 

“We need to go back and get him, too. I’m not leaving without him!” her voice trembled and she was very visibly scared, but her stance… her eyes… She was full of determination and compassion. Shadow wholeheartedly admired her strength and gave in. 

 

“But please hurry up, okay?” He said as he ran to the opposite direction now. Maria did her best to keep up. She had not exercised much in the last few years, so her muscles were severely underdeveloped for her age.

 

Breathless they stood before the doors of Gerald Robotnik’s laboratory. Upon entering they both called out for him. 

“Professor?” 

“Grandfather?”

But no answer.

 

“He must already have left!” Shadow concluded.

 

“What if they took him away?” Maria shivered.

 

“It’s going to be okay… “ 

Shadow assured. He took both of Maria’s hands. 

“The most important is that you are now as good as healthy. We can escape this place and go to earth.” 

He hesitated but then continued, looking into her eyes and trying to put on a genuine smile. 

“It’s what he would’ve wanted us to do, don’t you think?”

 

Maria’s eyes got teary at the thought of not seeing her grandfather anymore, but it was not like he would die, right…? They would just bring him to custody. And when they find out he did nothing wrong, he will be released again. Right. She had to stay optimistic. How would she carry out his ideals and ideas when she wasn’t free, either?

 

“Let’s escape this Prison together.” she nod, wiping away the water that collected in her eyes.

They started running towards the escape bay again. The sound of metal on metal echoed through the halls every time Shadow took a step. 

He was deaf to the sound, but a soldier in a nearby hallway wasn’t. Alerted he carefully sneaked his way towards the noise. Over a corner he saw Marias flashy blue dress and her long golden hair.

 

“Hey, lady!” he called out.

 

“Oh no!” Maria whispered. “Someone caught onto us!”

She did her best to keep up the pace but she was already out of breath and her legs hurt. She got all her power from the tug on her arm that Shadow was holding firmly.

 

“We are almost there, we can make it.” Shadow assured her.

 

“Stop right there!” 

The soldier warned as he sent out a warning shot to the ceiling. He held his radio close to his mouth and pressed the speak button. 

“I found a girl and assumably the creature the old man talked about.” 

He secured his gun and started running after them. 

“I’m in pursuit. I don’t think I need backup but if I don’t reply in five minutes send someone else to the escape bay sector E5.”

 

Shadow used all his might to transport Maria and himself into the room without touching the security equipment, but simply teleporting them.

They crashed to the ground and he was totally worn out. His chest ached and he needed a break from using chaos energy hence he felt like he was going to explode any minute now.

 

As he struggled to prep himself back up they heard another gunshot.  
And another.

 

The soldier was determined to stop the girl and the mysterious creature. 

“Please comply and no one will get hurt. It’s going to be okay I am here to help!” He exclaimed as he pried open the door.

 

Sluggish Shadow stood on his feet, stumbling towards the door. “Go… Away.” He moved his arm as if he was going to launch an attack, but he broke down to the floor unconscious.

 

Maria did her best to pick him up and place him inside of a capsule, but despite his size Shadow was actually quite heavy; too heavy for her to lift him over a bigger distance. She had no choice but to send him down in a solo pod. 

 

While the soldier was still struggling to pry open the door by sheer force, Maria pulled shadow to one of the marked areas on the floor. She removed her ribbon from her hair and used it to attach a small note she had prepared earlier, granted for another occasion, to his wrist.

 

Tears in her eyes, fearing the worst, yet hoping for the best, she kissed the note and then his forehead. “Don’t forget, Shadow. Come to the summer house in Spagonia.”

Letting go of him she hurried to the control console to activate the pod’s release.

 

“Don’t do it, Girl!” the soldier yelled. He came bursting through the door he finally managed to open. “Stay where you are and keep your hands in the air!”

 

Maria wouldn’t even dream of listening to him. She initiated the sequence and walls closed up around Shadow.

 

This next minute lasted an eternity.

 

Shadow regained consciousness and groggily sat up on his knees.

“Maria, what’s going on?”

Through the transparent walls of his cage he could see Maria at the console and the Soldier that was opposing her. Their voices were muffled and Shadow’s head was stinging in pain.

 

“Release the creature and come with me! This is for your own good! You don't’ know what you’re doing, kid!” he aimed the gun at her.

 

“MARIA!” he yelled, but they couldn't hear him.

 

“No, Sir.” 

She frowned at him. She knew what she had to do. She loved Shadow and grandfather. And she knew what he meant to him, to her… to the whole world. 

With his help she was able to be cured. It didn’t matter if she was caught, but Shadow had to be free. He had to live his life and protect earth.

“You don’t understand.”

 

Shadow held his hands on the reinforced glass. “MARIA! I’M RIGHT HERE! DON’T DO IT!” he yelled and pleaded over and over but she couldn’t hear him. 

 

Maria started the count down to his release in ten seconds.

 

10

 

“It’s going to be okay, Shadow… I know you can do it. Even after all this, I hope you can give humanity a second chance.”

  
  


“Stop talking to the creature, stop the release sequence NOW. This is an order young lady!” the gun in his hands shook violently.

 

9

 

Shadow tried to punch the glass and break it to rush to protect her. When he said it was going to be risky he didn’t mean this. He didn’t want this. Maria should not put her own life on the line like this. This wasn’t right.

 

8

 

Shadow’s punches did nothing. His fists carried no power, no energy. His arms were like overcooked noodles.

 

7

 

“I believe in Shadow. I believe he can make everyone on earth happy. He was made for this purpose; he was made to bring a smile on peoples faces and let them feel ‘It’s going to be okay’. To protect everything and everyone down there!” 

 

6

 

Maria beamed with positive energy, she tried so hard to convince the soldier to drop his weapon, or at least let Shadow go. But he was overwhelmed, he didn’t know what to do. He got orders to capture the creature at all costs. All the costs… 

 

5

 

“This is my last warning - STOP! THE! POD!” he yelled, closing his eyes because he couldn’t bare the scene anymore.

 

4

 

“Leave him alone, please. I*m going to go with you! You can ha-”

 

3

 

The gunshot would echo in this soldier's mind forever. He didn't know what to do, he panicked, he had to get the girl to stop.

 

He wanted to send out a warning shot but his shaking hands… The bullet pierced directly through her heart and her perfect blue dress slowly changed coller to a dull violet red.

 

She broke down on the floor, reaching out for Shadow in the process.

“Sha… dow…” she brought out as she fully collapsed to the floor.

 

2

 

“MARIA!!!!!!” Shadow cried out loud, as loud as he could, hoping it would reach Maria’s ears. His mind went blank, he monotonously banged his fist against the glass in pathetic attempts to break it. His other hand slid down the glass, and his body followed, sinking to the floor limply as he stared at the light of his life lying on the floor with a pool of blood forming below her.

He cried uncontrollably and screamed. This was unfair so unfair how could this happen? He didn’t plan this, he never expected this. He wanted to go to the summer house with her.

He wished to transfer his powers to her but it wasn’t possible. She was out of his reach. NO matter how hard he yearned and tried he couldn’t activate his power.

 

The soldier threw his gun to the ground in shock and shook violently, falling over and crawling back from the scene. He just  _ did _ that. He killed an innocent girl with no mean to protect herself. Despite his urge to scream he could not bring out a word and just gasped for air as he held back tears.

 

The girl was just lying there serene and smiling as if she was sunshine herself. With every last bit of strength she had she crawled her way towards the pod.

  
“Shadow, I don’t know if you can hear me, or if you have woken up by now. But please don’t remember this last moment of us, okay?” She coughed up some blood. “Remember our good times, and the good times only…!”

 

1

 

Shadow pressed his head to the glass.

 

“Maria…” he mumbled almost inaudible to even himself.

 

“Whatever happens now, please don’t forget the reason you exist, Shadow. Fulfill your mission no matter what happens… Do it for me… for everyone. For a better future where despair won’t win…”

She reached towards the pod to lay her hand on the glass but she was too far away.

 

ESCAPE POD RELEASE - PLEASE STAY BEHIND THE MARKED AREAS

 

_ “Adios… Shadow the hedgehog.”  _

 

Her hand fell limply and Shadow was sent falling down to the giant blue orb they called “ _ earth _ ”.


	17. Dreamed, denied, destroyed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we are! Final chapter!
> 
> I've worked hard to put this together in time!
> 
> I've been working on this for so long... It's truly unbelieveable to finally have finished this project after it's been running for what? 2 years now? Perhaps 3? I do honestly not remember...
> 
> A huge thank you to everyone who's been reading since day one, and also a huge thank you to everyone who joined later in the game!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this last chapter! It even comes with pictures! (Pictures I drew for the finale of this story in February 2016 ! Yes I've been planning this for so long! )
> 
> Please be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts on my style, as I'm trying very hard to improve but it's obviously a little hard to find mistakes all on your own ;w;

Shadow woke up in shock, gasping for air and coughing wildly at the foreign sensation of this… air? And he was feeling pain all over his body. What happened? Where was he?

All he remembered was… Maria… Died.

He was sent to the earth. He was crying and then this incredible heat and the pain-

 

He jolted up and looked around. Around him was a crater of shards, dirt and debris. It felt like a miracle he did not completely burn up and die from that fall, but it was to be expected since he was the ultimate life form.

 

He rubbed his eyes at the blinding light from above and shakingly tried to get on his feet. He supported himself with the debris and took a step out. He looked up at the crater and saw a blue sky at the horizon. The blue sky Maria had always dreamed about…

 

He stumbled up the hill hastily; he wanted to see the world Maria spoke of so fondly.

As he looked around he saw fairly flat land with grasses over grasses aligned in unnaturally straight rows. Here and there there were giant metal structures reaching for the blue sky above them, practically piercing the clouds.

 

Shadow broke down to the floor and his gloved hands touched the moist soil. Confused he jolted back up on his feet as he felt the moisture go through his glove to reach his skin, the soil staining the white cloth brown.

He curiously smelled the substance and then proceeded to smell the air around him and soon he would be trying to experience everything with all his senses. He listened closely to the noises of nature. Birds, cicadas, the wind in the leaves…

 

As he lifted his foot to walk he saw how he had pressed the grass flat under his soles.

“S-sorry!” He whispered, unsure if the grass would really hear it or …

No it wasn't sentient, but… Maria had always said that even plants were alive, they just didn't have the means to know.

 

He shielded his eyes from the sun and noticed the ribbon attached to his arm. It belonged to Maria! She must've attached it when he was unconscious and he didn't notice until now because of the shock of the situation…

 

That soldier - he and GUN would pay for this. How dare they take power over other people's life. He didn't care what these people did to him, he questioned himself fairly often; wondering if he was truly a “person”.

 

This moment suddenly a weird mechanical noise came closer and closer. A gigantic flying metal bird approached in the sky.

Shadow ducked and tried to hide in the grass but his color scheme was very unlucky in the green plains.

 

Humans suddenly came out of it, dangling on ropes. They were all armed and surrounded him, while he still tried to figure out what to do.

He could run, but he didn't know where he was, what dangers lingered in this world-

 

The soldiers immediately shot Shadow with all their arsenal. It didn't hurt.. it must've been a special kind of bullet. Shadow tried to stand up but his limbs felt weak. He felt his body struggling to rid of the toxin he was injected with through those darts, but they frantically kept shooting him with more.

“Dude, these are enough to put an elephant to sleep - just what is this creature?” One of the soldiers mumbled as he poked Shadow on his side to check if he was unconscious.

“To be honest, I’d rather not know anything about it.” His colleague replied.

 

With this, Shadow fell asleep for a _long_ time.

 

* * *

 

 

Gerald was escorted to earth immediately to get questioned by government officials.

 

Supporters of Williams, as well as people who feared for their own sentence if they admitted having supported his plans, speaked against Gerald and blamed the entire tragedy on him.

 

He was sentenced to death row and solitary confinement in prison island; the same place that also Shadow was brought to.

He was frozen in time, quite literally. His prison would be the first cryostasis chamber in the world. It was originally created for other purposes, but the homeland security chief deemed it a necessary step to ensure world peace in the future.

 

Shadows very few belongings (Maria's ribbon, the note she left behind, an old pair of rings and a book) were locked away with extreme security precaution to ensure his existence would be erased from history.

 

Gerald was allowed to leave messages to family members and announce his last will within a certain amount of time before he would be executed.

 

He took his time, thinking about the unjust that he experienced, thinking about the planet that was doomed anyways if they had locked Shadow up now.

Did they deserve it anyways? Being saved and protected? Now that Maria was gone… what worth was there?

They were all nothing but traitors. Selfish creatures that lack heart.

 

Gerald had been informed that he was allowed to leave Shadow a message; however he would not receive it until he was released from his imprisonment.

GUN did not realize, or expect to that extend, how bitter Gerald was about the state of the world, and underestimated his cleverness.

 

He spent most of the rest of his time figuring out how to realize his revenge on humanity. It’s not like it mattered anyways. If they didn’t destroy themselves or the aliens hadn’t taken over the planet by the time Shadow was free, then it wouldn’t have made any difference by whose hand it all ended. It would end anyways.

The old man utilized every single space he could scrape on the walls and the floor to put down his formulas to figure out the perfect timing and a way to aid Shadow in installing his newly brewed up program into the ARK; since he did not have any access to it anymore from down here.

He figured Shadow was smart and would pick up on his act, play along with the plan to make sure it worked out; he also might as well contact any family he had left. If they could crack his code, they could unleash the end upon this world for him.

So that was what he did.

 

On the day of his execution GUN security came to his cell to aid him in filming his last messages and dying words.

He damned the planet and all humans in his testament, the military not being moved by his threats.

“Is that all you had to say?” A soldier called when he was done.

“Yes. My work here is done.” Gerald proclaimed with the gun pointed at his head.

 

The video ended the very moment the gun fired.

 

* * *

 

 

Year over years pass and no one was able to decode Gerald’s message. Eventually, it was forgotten and/or deemed a foolish testament of an insane professor.

 

Shadow had long been erased from any and all records and was only known as “dangerous, unstable weapon of mass destruction” that should under no circumstances be recovered from where it was buried, deep inside the military base. Most of the survivors of the horrible incident on ARK had purposefully deleted any knowledge about the events aboard to keep their minds sane. The ones who weren’t strong enough either ended their misery themselves, or got taken care of by authorities.

The initial plan to reproduce Shadow’s powers in humans had died with the knowledge of his existence and the strict rule of the commander in charge.

 

However, a man called Ivo Robotnik, the grandson of professor Gerald, had taken it up to his task to solve this mystery. He knew much about his grandfather's achievements, and he knew, that despite everyone declining it to be true, that he had worked on a secret and dangerous weapon that was locked away by the military. Ivo believed this to be the reason for his execution.

Still remembering him from early childhood stories of his father, he knew quite a few leads to unlocking his secrets. He cracked the code in Geralds message: it was a code for a protocol. A program for a special system.

 

The only place that would hold the weapon is the top secret military base “Prison Island”.

After numerous defeats by the pesky hero Sonic the Hedgehog, Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik decided to heed his grandfather's callings once and for all and venture to the base.

 

He laughed at the lousy security measures in this “most secret and reliable prison in the world”. He scanned and found the correct room in no time and activated the console with a chaos emerald.

“Password?” He mumbled to himself. “M-A-R-I-A.” He typed in the letters thoughtfully.

 

This very moment Shadow had been freed from his frozen state, slowly coming back to life.

“Where…?” He mumbled as his consciousness returned to his body. He had just landed on earth and been captured by those soldiers- Maria's ribbon… it was gone!

They must have locked him up so he wasn't dangerous to them anymore...

 

Gerald's farewell video from fifty years ago was now playing in his chamber as he was transported back to the surface.

 

“Shadow, my son, I am going to be executed for crimes I did not commit. It is true, they killed Maria and got away with it. However, you must not stray a savage  path. Whoevers you now, please do not be hostile. Help them, support them. Use all your knowledge and powers to back their goal and return home proudly.”

 

Shadow immediately understood this riddle. The soldiers must've locked him up to ue him later on. Whoever freed him must hunger for power, and Shadow possesses it all. And… Gerald mentioned another clue at home… He needed to distract the person so he could get back to the ARK.

 

As his pod slowly rose, the hatch opened and the mist was fading, he saw a figure that looked just like the professor, but younger. He was taken aback at first, not able to say or do anything but stare.

“Professor… But…?” He thought to himself.

 

Ivo could already see it before his eyes. Sonic's defeat. His own Eggman Empire.

Suddenly he stepped back and also just stared in shock, but quickly caught himself again and yelled “S-Sonic!? What are you doing here of all places!? Ruining my plans again-”

 

Crimson irises shone through the parting mist.

 

“No wait! You are not Sonic!”

“Sonic? Who is that…? It seems this lookalike of Gerald must've mistaken me for a lookalike of mine.” Coursed through Shadow’s mind.

“My name is Shadow.” He stepped out of the pod and on the floor. Then he bowed. “Since you were so kind to release me, my master, I will grant you one wish.”

He clenched his teeth at his own words. Disgusting. This was all just for her. He endured this humiliation for her alone.

 

Eggman clapped his hands together in joy. “Hohoho! You must help me build my Eggman Empire and get rid of that nasty pest Sonic!”

 

Predictable.

  


This moment a security robot like they were on ARK came bursting through the wall, all alarm sirens sounding and tinting them in red.

“Behold the true power I possess!”

With these words Shadow dashed towards the robot and destroyed it within seconds.

Just like back _there_. Had nothing changed? How long was he locked up?

 

Ivos mouth was formed in a perfectly egg shaped “O” before he smirked devilish. This was the truth. Shadow was the ultimate weapon his grandfather created. Faster and stronger than this pest Sonic.

 

Shadow turned around to face his so called “Master”. He wants to conquer the world? Sure. He can have the world. The hedgehog already knew how to fulfil this wish. He would get two birds with one stone.

Speaking of stones, Shadow swiftly grabbed the chaos emerald in the console and stood on Ivos mech directly before him.

“Bring more chaos emeralds.” He warped off behind the doctor. If he knew Gerald's password, he would know more about his legacy. He seemed to be related anyhow. “I’ll be waiting for you on Space Colony ARK.”

 

Silently the hedgehog walked into the smoke of the destroyed robot; his blood red eyes ready for revenge.

 

What he left behind was nothing but a very confused mad scientist who just was given the chance of his life-time.

 

Shadow knew he had to fight his way out. He also had to find out how long he was locked up.  
Dashing through security robots he searched for information on his whereabouts like a map or a live soldier he could question.

Close to the exit he found what he was looking for: a map showing the closest coast and Soldiers attempting to enter their battle mechs. Shadow didn't have much time to process the information and shot pure chaos energy at all of the men at the same time paralyzing them and making them fall.

 

One he had spared this ordeal, but now he was holding him by the throat threatening.

“Report, soldier!” He snarled.

“I-I don't understand wha-” he stuttered in surprise over this hedgehogs power.

“ _Report to me._ ” Shadow growled. “Location, time, date, identification, commander.”

“P-prison Island. 18:4-something. 2001. Lionel Miller, mech pilot and subordinate to Commander Charles Williams.” He was visibly very nervous, a fairly new soldier.

“Charley…” Shadow thought out loud. Over 50 years had passed. Maria… there was no way she was still alive. Not after… And all this time...

 

Shadow let the soldier drop to the ground. Without looking at him he spoke. “Open the door. Don't bother following me. Go to the room with the secret weaponry and return the cryogenic pod back to its usual position. Tell your commander that Project Shadow is secured.” Crimson eyes slowly moving down on the soldier, piercing into his own, fearful eyes. “Understood?”

“Yes, Sir!” He brought out eagerly as he quickly saluted and then hurried to open the heavy doors, remaining at the console frozen in fear. He couldn't help but remain leaning at the wall, staring at the small hedgehog.

Shadow held a hand over his face as the late afternoon sun shone his way, glistening through the giant trees surrounding the facility.

He had read much about trees with maria. He'd seen photos. He'd never have believed he would be able to see them in person. He totally forgot about his surroundings. All he could think of was Maria.

“Maria.” He mumbled as a tear rolled down his face.

The soldier couldn't wrap his mind around this scene.

 

Shadow wiped away his tears and dashed forward, leaving a dazzled soldier behind to fulfill his orders.

 

As for Shadow; his mission was clear.

 

_Humanity should pay for what they had done to his creator, to him and most of all… Maria._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just because this is the end of KoA this doesn't mean there won't be sequels ^w^
> 
> Keep an eye out for a series of connected one shots that will focus on all of Shadow's "first times" !


End file.
